English

Objective and Subjective Probabilities in Quantum Mechanics

Quantum Physics 2009-11-13 v1

Abstract

The concept of probability was prominent in the original foundations of quantum mechanics, and continues to be so today. Indeed, the controversies regarding objective and subjective interpretations of probability have again become active. I argue that, although both objective and subjective probabilities have domains of relevance in QM, their roles are quite distinct. Even where both are legitimate, the objective and subjective probabilities differ, both conceptually and numerically. There are quantum probabilities that have no useful subjective interpretations, and there are subjective probabilities that cannot be realized as quantum probabilities.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0710.5945,
  title  = {Objective and Subjective Probabilities in Quantum Mechanics},
  author = {Leslie Ballentine},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0710.5945},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

Paper given at a conference in Vaxjo, Sweden, 11 June 2007

R2 v1 2026-06-21T09:38:32.518Z