Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 27 (2006) 39–42

www.elsevier.com/locate/chaos

Hilbert, Fock and Cantorian spaces in the quantum

two-slit gedanken experiment
M.S. El Naschie *

Frankfurt Institute of Advanced Studies, Frankfurt, Germany

Department of Physics, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt

Abstract

On the one hand, a rigorous mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics requires the introduction of a Hilbert
space and as we move to the second quantization, a Fock space. On the other hand, the Cantorian E-infinity approach
to quantum physics was developed largely without any direct reference to the afore mentioned mathematical spaces. In
the present work we utilize some novel reinterpretations of basic E (1) Cantorian spacetime relations in terms of the
Hilbert space of quantum mechanics. Proceeding in this way, we gain a better understanding of the physico-mathemat-
ical structure of quantum spacetime which is at the heart of the paradoxical and non-intuitive outcome of the famous
quantum two-slit gedanken experiment.
Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

In various previous publications, one of the most fundamental experiments in quantum physics which de facto rep-
resents the core of what the theory is all about, namely the two-slit experiment, was reconsidered [1–5]. Our main thrust
was to go back in time before quantum mechanics was invented but after T. Young proved the wave character of the
light. We imagine further that the technical possibilities were somewhat expanded to the state where the light source
could be made so weak that only one photon at a time could be released [1–5]. In other words, we have a manifest par-
ticle-wave paradox but no quantum theory a la Heisenberg nor Schrödinger or Dirac. However we have probability
theory as well as a lesson taught to us by special and general relativity. This lesson could be summarized into two
important statements. First, spacetime geometry and topology matters a great deal. Second, the form of spacetime
as it appears to us does not necessarily need to be the real form. Relativity clearly showed us that the 3 + 1 spacetime
of our observation which is not really the 4D spacetime of photons and fast electrons. In a similar way, the flat space-
time of classical mechanics is only an approximation to the really curved spacetime of cosmological dimensions [6,7].
Our solution to the problem starts from an utterly heuristic point of departure and arrives at a simple equation [1–5]
jP 1
P 2 j ¼ j
P 1 P 2 j;
where P1 is the probability for a photon to pass through slit number one and P2 is the probability that it will pass
through slit number two.

*
P.O. Box 272, Cobham, Surrey KT11 2FQ, UK.

0960-0779/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.chaos.2005.04.094
40 M.S. El Naschie / Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 27 (2006) 39–42

The fundamental move comes however when the above is interpreted as a statement about the very structure of
quantum spacetime. In particular it was shown that the above equation implies that we have two and seemingly only
two ways to understand what the two-slit experiment is saying. The first possibility is to take spacetime at its face value
as a classical 3 + 1 flat space or in the relativistic case, as a 4D Minkowski spacetime but then we would have to accept
probability with phase and complex wave function. Alternatively, we insist on real probabilities and end up accepting
that real quantum spacetime is a fuzzy Kähler-like manifold which we call K(E(1)) for fuzzy K3 [3].
The above conclusion brings our theory very close to modern theories of super strings which although very popular
and rightly so, at present they could not be seen as in line with the classical form of quantum mechanics and quantum
field theory with its Hilbert space and Fock space respectively [8,9]. However we feel that a great deal could be gained
by interpreting the above result as well as E-infinity theorem [6,7] in terms as close as possible to Hilbert space and
conventional quantum field theory with its Fock space extension of Hilbert space of orthodox quantum mechanics
[8,9]. Such an attempt is worthwhile because at a minimum a clearer picture of both approaches will arise. In fact, Niels
Bohr used to say that ‘‘Nur in der Füller liegt die Klarheit’’ i.e. only in the multitude lies clarity.

2. Hilbert space and Fock space

A mathematical text book definition of Hilbert space is the following [10,11].

Definition. A Hilbert space is an inner product space which is a complete metric space with respect to the metric
induced by its inner product.
Incidentally, a more general form of Hilbert space is a Banach space. In fact, every Hilbert space is a Banach space,
but in applications it is the special class of Hilbert spaces which are more important particularly with respect to quan-
tum mechanics. There we see that the space of bra or ket vectors, to use DiracÕs terminology, is a Hilbert space as long
as the vectors are restricted to be of finite length and to have finite scalar products. In general however, bra and ket
vectors used in quantum mechanics form a more general space than a Hilbert space [9].
Let us be a little more concrete with regard to our quantum application of Hilbert space. Consider the spin of an
electron. In such a case we have only two states; spin up and spin down. This would be a two dimensional state vector
space. However we also have quantum situations where the number of possibilities is unbounded. In such a case, one
must use infinite dimensional spaces to represent them. This is actually what one usually associates with a Hilbert space,
so that we may give another definition.
Definition. Hilbert space is a mathematical theory of vectors in a space of infinite dimensions.
From the above it follows that Hilbert space is a particular form of vector space. In addition we note a similarity
with E(1) spacetime due to the fact that both spaces live in infinite dimensions, but for the moment that is all, because
Hilbert space is supposed to be an abstract mathematical construction while E (1) is supposed to model real spacetime
at all possible resolutions including the quantum.
Before proceeding with our discussion we need to clarify what we mean with a Fock space. The formal definition of a
Fock space is the following.
Definition. A Fock space is the direct sum of Hilbert spaces (with increasing number of particles).
When one obtains a wave function which is a function of complex dynamical variable rather than observables, then
we have a Fock representation and the corresponding space is a Fock space. Clearly as we move from quantum
mechanics to quantum field theory, we do move from Hilbert space to a Fock space [8–11].

3. The E (‘) Cantorian spacetime and Hilbert space

One of the main equations of E-infinity theory is the master equation which fixes the expectation value of the dimen-
sionality of E(1), namely [6,7]
X1
 hni ¼ ð/n ÞðnÞ.
n¼1
b n = kn and /n = an. That way one finds [11]
Now let us set  hni ¼ h Ai,
X1
b ¼
h Ai an kn .
n¼1
 M.S. El Naschie / Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 27 (2006) 39–42 41

b of an observable operator A
Clearly this is the well known quantum mechanical formula for the expectation value h Ai b
in the state w(x) of a physical system defined by [11]
b
hwj Awi
b ¼
h Ai .
hwjwi

The value an is the weight of the eigen values kn. Consequently there is a complete analogy between

n then mathematical
foundation of quantum mechanics and the foundation of E-infinity theory. We recall that d ð0Þ c ¼ / is indeed the
weight of a dimension n in E(1) from which the well known E (1) result hni = 4 + /3 follows [6,7]. Seeing it in this
way, Hilbert space starts to appear less of an abstract mathematical concept and far more related to the real spacetime
of E(1). In the following we would like to push this view point as far as we can with the obvious aim of giving a more
conventional interpretation of the undecidability condition [1–5] which we have established for the two-slit experiment
and the fuzzy K3 spacetime model [3].

4. The significance of Hilbert space

We have said that mathematical, Hilbert space is an inner product space. Its main physical significance is that it rep-
resents the wave function of the quantum system. This means it represents the system prior to measurement. When mea-
surement is taken the system collapses into a specific state. The collapsed state is what is nearest to the classical concept
of a point. We have also seen that there is a correspondence between hni and h Ai b and therefore the wave functions in
b corresponds to a scalar [6,11]. Consequently the inner product degenerates to a simple multiplication. This in turn
h Ai
would correspond to the right hand side of our fundamental equation jP1 ± P2j = j±P1P2j. We could look at the same
point from a different perspective, namely that of dimension, taking into consideration that Pi may be interpreted as
probabilities as well as dimensions [6,7].
In the simplest of terms, one could say that the rule of jointing two classical spaces is to add their dimensions. This
would correspond to the left hand side of our fundamental equation. By contrast, when joining two Hilbert spaces, we
must multiply the dimensions. Thus our undecidability equation may be interpreted as an equation balancing the
dimensionality of Hilbert space where the probability wave function is propagating, with the dimensionality of the mea-
surement space where the real measurement is taken [1–7].

5. Interpretation via Töplitz operator

The theory of Hilbert space is related to the subject of infinite Töplitz and Hankel matrices and also to the index
theorem of Töplitz [10]
IndðT ðf ÞÞ ¼ h½gjf  ½T i.

The vital point is the one to one correspondence of the theorem to our undecidability condition [1–5]. This is because
while the left hand side gives an expression of the winding number in terms of an operator which may be seen as an
analogue to the particle interpretation, the right hand side expresses in some way a property of waves related to the
fact that the phase of f varies by a multiple of 2p as x varies by one period.
In other words, our solution to the two-slit experiment is generic and constitutes a genuine resolution of the wave
particle duality, without the need to invoke orthodox quantum mechanics. In fact the conclusion of Tanaka that E-
infinity is at least occasionally simpler and superior to quantum mechanical calculation seems to have been reinforced
by the present analysis [12].

6. Conclusion

There is clearly an analogy between quantities defined in Hilbert space and those representing E (1) Cantorian space-
time. For instance in Hilbert space we have [11]
X
1
b ¼
h Ai an kn ;
n¼1
42 M.S. El Naschie / Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 27 (2006) 39–42

while in E (1) we have [6]

X1
 hni ¼ /n n.
n¼1

In addition the undecidability condition of the two-slit experiment [4]

jP 1
P 2 j ¼ j
P 1 P 2 j
turns out to express the same fact as the Töplitz index theorem as well as the dimensional union in classical and Hilbert
spaces. Our general conclusion is that the particle-waves duality can find a semi-classical resolution if we assume that
micro spacetime is a fuzzy Kähler-like manifold akin to E (1). Therefore if we accept spacetime as classical, then we
must also accept the wave-particle duality. Alternatively we could insist on classical probabilities without a phase, then
we have to take the real complex character of E (1) micro spacetime into consideration.
In conclusion we may mention that the connection between chaotic quantum spacetime geometry and topology and
the paradoxal outcome of the quantum two-slit gedanken experiment has been recognized for a long time and illus-
trated by the analogy to the three points and four points chaos game [13].

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