Different Types of Conditional Expectation and the Lüders—von Neumann Quantum Measurement

Abstract

In operator algebra theory, a conditional expectation is usually assumed to be a projection map onto a sub-algebra. In the paper, a further type of conditional expectation and an extension of the Lüders—von Neumann measurement to observables with continuous spectra are considered; both are defined for a single operator and become a projection map only if they exist for all operators. Criteria for the existence of the different types of conditional expectation and of the extension of the Lüders—von Neumann measurement are presented, and the question whether they coincide is studied. All this is done in the general framework of Jordan operator algebras. The examples considered include the type I and type II operator algebras, the standard Hilbert space model of quantum mechanics, and a no-go result concerning the conditional expectation of observables that satisfy the canonical commutator relation.