Quantum Stochastic Products and the Quantum Convolution

Abstract

A quantum stochastic product is a binary operation on the space of quantum states preserving the convex structure. We describe a class of associative stochastic products, the twirled products, that have interesting connections with quantum measurement theory. Constructing such a product involves a square integrable group representation, a probability measure and a fiducial state. By extending a twirled product to the full space of trace class operators, one obtains a Banach algebra. This algebra is commutative if the underlying group is abelian. In the case of the group of translations on phase space, one gets a quantum convolution algebra, a quantum counterpart of the classical phase-space convolution algebra. The peculiar role of the fiducial state characterizing each quantum convolution product is highlighted.