Related papers: Local toy-model theory with ontic correlated state…
We present a toy theory that is based on a simple principle: the number of questions about the physical state of a system that are answered must always be equal to the number that are unanswered in a state of maximal knowledge. A wide…
A local, deterministic toy model for quantum mechanics is introduced and discussed. It is demonstrated that, when averaged over the hidden variables, the model produces the same predictions as quantum mechanics. In the model considered…
Classical objects have been excluded as subjects of the observed quantum properties, and the related problem of the nature of quantum objects has been suspended since the early days of Quantum Theory. Recent experiments show that the…
We show how to construct general probabilistic theories that contain an energy observable dependent on position and momentum. The construction is in accordance with classical and quantum theory and allows for physical predictions, such as…
We investigate the strengths and limitations of the Spekkens toy model, which is a local hidden variable model that replicates many important properties of quantum dynamics. First, we present a set of five axioms that fully encapsulate…
In this paper we consider theories in which reality is described by some underlying variables. Each value these variables can take represents an ontic state (a particular state of reality). The preparation of a quantum state corresponds to…
This paper discusses a restriction of quantum theory, in which very complex states would be excluded. The toy theory is phrased in the language of the circuit model for quantum computing, its key ingredient being a limitation on the number…
A number of writers have been attracted to the idea that some of the peculiarities of quantum theory might be manifestations of 'backward' or 'retro' causality, underlying the quantum description. This idea has been explored in the…
We consider an atomistic model defined through an interaction field satisfying a variational principle, and can therefore be considered a toy model of (orbital free) density functional theory. We investigate atomistic-to-continuum coupling…
Studying the extent to which realism is compatible with quantum mechanics teaches us something about the quantum mechanical universe, regardless of the validity of such realistic assumptions. It has also recently been appreciated that these…
We map Spekkens' toy model to a quantum mechanics defined over the finite field $\mathbb{F}_5$. This allows us to define arbitrary linear combinations of the epistemic states in the model. For Spekkens' elementary system with only $2^2=4$…
While quantum theory cannot be described by a local hidden variable model, it is nevertheless possible to construct such models that exhibit features commonly associated with quantum mechanics. These models are also used to explore the…
The eigenstates and eigenenergies of a toy model, which arose in idealizing a local quenched tight-binding model in a previous publication [Zhang and Yang, EPL 114, 60001 (2016)], are solved analytically. This enables us to study its…
Recently, it has been argued that no extension of quantum theory can have improved predictive power under a strong assumption of free choice of the experimental settings and validity of quantum mechanics. Here, under a different free choice…
In order to better understand a complex theory like quantum mechanics, it is sometimes useful to take a step back and create alternative theories, with more intuitive foundations, and examine which features of quantum mechanics can be…
Toy models are highly idealized and deliberately simplified models that retain only the essential features of a system in order to explore specific theoretical questions. Long used in physics and other sciences, they have recently begun to…
A model of reality is called separable if the state of a composite system is equal to the union of the states of its parts, located in different regions of space. Spekkens has argued that it is trivial to reproduce the predictions of…
I describe a toy model of quantum measurement in which wave function collapse is described as a stochastic entropically-driven event guided by interactions between a measured two-state particle and an Ising-like measurement device. The…
Information is physical, and for a physical theory to be universal, it should model observers as physical systems, with concrete memories where they store the information acquired through experiments and reasoning. Here we address these…
In the absence of an external frame of reference physical degrees of freedom must describe relations between systems. Using a simple model, we investigate how such a relational quantum theory naturally arises by promoting reference systems…