Advances in Quantum Dynamics

Advances in Quantum Dynamics Synopsis

This volume contains the proceedings of the conference on Advances in Quantum Dynamics. The purpose of the conference was to assess the current state of knowledge and to outline future research directions of quantum dynamical semigroups on von Neumann algebras. Since the appearance of the landmark papers by F. Murray and J. von Neumann, ""On the Rings of Operators"", von Neumann algebras have been used as a mathematical model in the study of time evolution of quantum mechanical systems. Following the work of M. H. Stone, von Neumann, and others on the structure of one-parameter groups of unitary transformations, many researchers have made fundamental contributions to the understanding of time-reversible dynamical systems.This book deals with the mathematics of time-irreversible systems, also called dissipative systems. The time parameter is the half-line, and the transformations are now endomorphisms as opposed to automorphisms. For over a decade, W. B. Arveson and R. T. Powers have pioneered the effort to understand the structure of irreversible quantum dynamical systems on von Neumann algebras. Their papers in this volume serve as an excellent introduction to the theory. Also included are contributions in other areas which have had an impact on the theory, such as Brownian motion, dilation theory, quantum probability, and free probability. The volume is suitable for graduate students and research mathematicians interested in the dynamics of quantum systems and corresponding topics in the theory of operator algebras.