Related papers: Von Neumann's 'No Hidden Variables' Proof: A Re-Ap…
The impossibility of theories with hidden variables as an alternative and replacement for quantum mechanics was discussed by J. von Neumann in 1932. His proof was criticized as being logically circular, by Grete Hermann soon after, and as…
Is is shown here that the "simple test of quantumness for a single system" of arXiv:0704.1962 (for a recent experimental realization see arXiv:0804.1646) has exactly the same relation to the discussion of to the problem of describing the…
According to what has become a standard history of quantum mechanics, in 1932 von Neumann persuaded the physics community that hidden variables are impossible as a matter of principle, after which leading proponents of the Copenhagen…
In his book \textit{The Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics}, published in 1932, J. von Neumann performed an analysis of the consequences of introducing hidden parameters (hidden variables) into quantum mechanics. He showed that…
This article discusses von Neumann's "proof" that hidden variable theories are impossible.
It is shown that, although correct mathematically, the celebrated 1932 theorem of von Neumann which is often interpreted as proving the impossibility of the existence of "hidden variables" in Quantum Mechanics, is in fact based on an…
For almost three decades in the twentieth century, the physics community believed that John von Neumann had proved the impossibility of completing quantum mechanics by a local realist, hidden-variables theory. Although Grete Hermann had…
We review the famous no-hidden-variables theorem in John von Neumann's 1932 book on the mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics. We describe the notorious gap in von Neumann's argument, pointed out by Grete Hermann in 1935 and, more…
In a old paper by G. Lochak, it is claimed that the Bell definition of a hidden variable is in conflict with the formalism of quantum mechanics. This result implies that it is not necessary to invoke non locality to explain the violation of…
Though John Bell had claimed that his spin-1/2 example of a hidden-variable theory(HV) is an \emph{explicit} counterexample to von Neumann's proof of the non-existence of hidden variable theories empirically equivalent to quantum mechanics,…
We discuss the problem of hidden variables and the motivation for introducting them in quantum mechanics. These include determinism, and the problem of meassurement and incompleteness. We first discuss Von-Neumann's imposisbility proof and…
Experiments motivated by Bell's theorem have led some physicists to conclude that quantum theory is nonlocal. However, the theoretical basis for such claims is usually taken to be Bell's Theorem, which shows only that if certain predictions…
Bell gave the now standard definition of a local hidden variable theory and showed that such theories cannot reproduce the predictions of quantum mechanics without violating his ``free will'' criterion: experimenters' measurement choices…
Colbeck and Renner [arXiv:0801.2218] analyzed a class of combined models for entanglements in which local and non-local hidden variables cooperate for producing the measurement results. They came to the conclusion that the measurement…
The paper argues that far from challenging - or even refuting - Bohm's quantum theory, the no-hidden-variables theorems in fact support the Bohmian ontology for quantum mechanics. The reason is that (i) all measurements come down to…
The experimentally verified violation of Bell's inequalities apparently implies that at least one of two intuitive beliefs must be false: that effects propagating at infinite velocity do not exist, and that natural phenomena occur…
Bell's theorem rests on the following fundamental condition for a local system: P(a,b|alpha, beta, lambda)= P(a|alpha, lambda)P(b|beta, lambda). Here a and b are the outcomes respectively for measurements alpha on one side, and beta on the…
Bell's theorem implies that any completion of quantum mechanics which uses hidden variables (that is, preexisting values of all observables) must be nonlocal in the Einstein sense. This customarily indicates that knowledge of the hidden…
Although skeptical of the prohibitive power of no-hidden-variables theorems, John Bell was himself responsible for the two most important ones. I describe some recent versions of the lesser known of the two (familar to experts as the…
The two previous papers developed quantum mechanical formalism from classical mechanics and two additional postulates. In the first paper it was also shown that the uncertainty relations possess no ontological validity and only reflect the…