Quantum Measurement Theory for Systems with Finite Dimensional State Spaces

Abstract

In this paper, we present a general theory of finite quantum measurements, for which we assume that the state space of the measured system is a finite dimensional Hilbert space and that the possible outcomes of a measurement is a finite set of real numbers. We develop the theory in a deductive manner from the basic postulates for quantum mechanics and a few plausible axioms for general quantum measurements. We derive an axiomatic characterization of all the physically realizable finite quantum measurements. Mathematical tools necessary to describe measurement statistics, such as POVMs and quantum instruments, are not assumed at the outset, but we introduce them as natural consequences of our axioms. Our objective is to show that those mathematical tools can be naturally derived from obvious theoretical requirements.