English

Quantum logic is undecidable

Quantum Physics 2021-06-22 v5 Logic

Abstract

We investigate the first-order theory of closed subspaces of complex Hilbert spaces in the signature (,,0,1)(\lor,\perp,0,1), where `\perp' is the orthogonality relation. Our main result is that already its quasi-identities are undecidable: there is no algorithm to decide whether an implication between equations and orthogonality relations implies another equation. This is a corollary of a recent result of Slofstra in combinatorial group theory. It follows upon reinterpreting that result in terms of the hypergraph approach to quantum contextuality, for which it constitutes a proof of the inverse sandwich conjecture. It can also be interpreted as stating that a certain quantum satisfiability problem is undecidable.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1607.05870,
  title  = {Quantum logic is undecidable},
  author = {Tobias Fritz},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1607.05870},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

12 pages. v5: corrected the proofs of Lemma 15 and Remark 16 showing the impossibility of recursive axiomatization of quantum logic. Added acknowledgment for Andre Kornell

R2 v1 2026-06-22T14:59:14.426Z