  The origin of the algebra of the non-commuting operators of quantum mechanics
is explained in the general Fenyes-Nelson stochastic models in which the
diffusion constant is a free parameter. This is achieved by continuing the
diffusion constant to imaginary values, a continuation which destroys the
physical interpretation, but does not affect experimental predictions. This
continuation leads to great mathematical simplification in the stochastic
theory, and to an understanding of the entire mathematical formalism of quantum
mechanics. It is more than a formal construction because the diffusion
parameter is not an observable in these theories.
