2001/12/18 by Mark P. Davidson
Physics and Astronomy · #quant-ph
published as Letters in Mathematical Physics Vol. 3, (1979) pp 367-376 · 10 pages
arxiv created 2001/12/18 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
The origin of the algebra of the non-commuting operators of quantum mechanics is explained in the general Fenyes-Nelson stochastic models in which the diffusion constant is a free parameter. This is achieved by continuing the diffusion constant to imaginary values, a continuation which destroys the physical interpretation, but does not affect experimental predictions. This continuation leads to great mathematical simplification in the stochastic theory, and to an understanding of the entire mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics. It is more than a formal construction because the diffusion parameter is not an observable in these theories.