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In the approach to the axiomatization of quantum mechanics of George W. Mackey [7], a series of plausible axioms is completed by a final axiom that is more or less ad hoc. This axiom states that a certain partially ordered set — the set P of all two-valued observables — is isomorphic to the lattice of all closed subspaces of Hilbert space. The question arises as to whether this axiom can be deduced from others of a more a priori nature, or, more generally, whether the lattice of closed subspaces of Hilbert space can be characterized in a physically meaningful way. Our central result is a characterization of this lattice which may serve as a step in the indicated direction, although there is not now a precise sense in which our axioms are more plausible than his. Its principal features may be described as follows.

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-010-1795-4_10

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