English

Causal Interventions Beyond Time: A CP-do(C)-Calculus for Indefinite Quantum Order

Quantum Physics 2025-08-08 v1

Abstract

We reformulate Pearl's three rules of do-calculus in the language of completely positive (CP) trace-preserving maps, thereby extending them to quantum systems with entanglement. We prove that Rule~2 fails whenever the underlying process admits indefinite causal order, and we demonstrate this failure in a three-qubit ``quantum switch'' circuit. Our analysis clarifies why the classical notions of surgical intervention, faithfulness, and counterfactual dependence must be revised in quantum information science. The CP-do(CC)-calculus introduced here provides a common syntax for causal modelling across classical, definite-order quantum, and indefinite-order quantum regimes.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2508.04737,
  title  = {Causal Interventions Beyond Time: A CP-do(C)-Calculus for Indefinite Quantum Order},
  author = {Jordi Vallverdu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.04737},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

28 pages, images, tables, theorems, and proofs

R2 v1 2026-07-01T04:37:54.413Z