Related papers: It from qubit: how to draw quantum contextuality
In the standard formulation of quantum mechanics, there exists an inherent feedback of the measurement setting on the elementary object under scrutiny. Thus one cannot assume that an 'element of reality' prexists to the measurement and, it…
The main mystery of quantum mechanics is contained in Wheeler's delayed choice experiment, which shows that the past is determined by our choice of what quantum property to observe. This gives the observer a participatory role in deciding…
In this essay I develop quantum contextuality as a potential candidate for Wheeler's universal regulating principle, arguing -- \textit{contrary} to Wheeler -- that this ultimately implies that `bit' comes from `it.' In the process I…
A conceptual difficulty in the foundations of quantum mechanics is the quantum measurement problem (QMP), essentially concerned with the apparent non-unitarity of the measurement process and the classicality of macroscopic systems. In an…
I argue that, on the subjective Bayesian interpretation of probability, "it from bit" requires a generalization of probability theory. This does not get us all the way to the quantum probability rule because an extra constraint, known as…
The geometry of cosets in the subgroups H of the two-generator free group G =\textless{} a, b \textgreater{} nicely fits, via Grothendieck's dessins d'enfants, the geometry of commutation for quantum observables. Dessins stabilize…
In his 1989 essay, John Archibald Wheeler has tried to answer the eternal question of existence. He did it by searching for links between information, physics, and quanta. The main concept emerging from his essay is that "every physical…
We point out an explicit connection between graphs drawn on compact Riemann surfaces defined over the field $\bar{\mathbb{Q}}$ of algebraic numbers --- so-called Grothendieck's {\it dessins d'enfants} --- and a wealth of distinguished…
Contextuality - the obstruction to describing quantum mechanics in a classical statistical way - has been proposed as a resource that powers quantum computing. The measurement-based model provides a concrete manifestation of contextuality…
In his famous 1989 It from Bit essay, John Wheeler contends that the stuff of the physical universe, or it, arises from information or bits, encoded in yes or no answers. Wheeler's question and assumptions are reexamined from a post Aspect…
In quantum mechanics, not everything that can be observed can be observed simultaneously. Observational data exhibits \emph{contextuality} -- a generalisation of nonlocality -- if the result of an observation is necessarily dependent on…
Quantum theory has the intriguing feature that is inconsistent with noncontextual hidden variable models, for which the outcome of a measurement does not depend on which other compatible measurements are being performed concurrently. While…
The mathematical notion of incompleteness (eg of rational numbers, Turing-computable functions, and arithmetic proof) does not play a key role in conventional physics. Here, a reformulation of the kinematics of quantum theory is attempted,…
We study the role of context, complex of physical conditions, in quantum as well as classical experiments. It is shown that by taking into account contextual dependence of experimental probabilities we can derive the quantum rule for the…
Recently there has been much interest in deriving the quantum formalism and the set of quantum correlations from simple axioms. In this paper, we provide a step-by-step derivation of the quantum formalism that tackles both these problems…
The one-state statement for closed universes has sparked considerable discussion. In this paper, we examine its physical meaning in the context of the Hartle-Hawking state and de Sitter space. We argue that the one-state property of closed…
Quantum theory departs from classical probabilistic theories in foundational ways. These departures--termed quantumness here--power quantum information and computation. This thesis charts the role of discrete structures in assessing…
We present a new and feasible test proving quantum contextuality in four-dimensional Hiltbert space. In our scheme, a contradiction between quantum mechanics and noncontextual hidden variables is revealed through the measurement statistics…
It is shown that quantum mechanics is noncontextual if quantum properties are represented by subspaces of the quantum Hilbert space (as proposed by von Neumann) rather than by hidden variables. In particular, a measurement using an…
The questions of describing observables and observation in quantum gravity appear to be centrally important to its physics. A relational approach holds significant promise, and a classification of different types of relational observables…