Notes on Naimark’s dilation theorem

Abstract

Abstract After a short review of the main properties of unsharp observables we provide examples of commutative unsharp observables obtained as the projection of sharp observables. In particular, we consider a family of PVMs defined on the tensor product Hilbert space H ⊗ K which include the one introduced by Ozawa in his modification of the von Neumann position measurement model and show that their projections onto H are commutative POVMs. Then, we make some observations on the concept of Naimark dilation and its connections with the integral representation of commutative POVMs. Finally, we introduce a partial order relation in the set of Naimark dilations, show that there is a minimal element and that it is unique. Minimality is a consequence of the partial ordered structure and coincides with the usual definition of minimal Naimark dilation. In passing, we use Naimark’s theorem in order to prove some well known properties of positive operator valued measures.