Related papers: Dimension of physical systems, information process…
Thermodynamics is a highly successful macroscopic theory widely used across the natural sciences and for the construction of everyday devices, from car engines and fridges to power plants and solar cells. With thermodynamics predating…
This thesis investigates the connection between quantum theory, thermodynamics and information theory. Theories with structure similar to that of quantum theory are considered, mathematically described by the framework of "Generalized…
Quantum theory is extremely successful in explaining most physical phenomena, and is not contradicted by any experiment. Yet, the theory has many puzzling features : the occurrence of probabilities, the unclear distinction between the…
In the operational approach to general probabilistic theories one distinguishes two spaces, the state space of the "elementary systems" and the physical space in which "laboratory devices" are embedded. Each of those spaces has its own…
We propose quantum-mechanical systems in which the number of spatial dimensions is promoted to a dynamical quantum variable, making the effective dimension state-dependent. Interestingly, systems of this form can exhibit enhanced symmetries…
We explore the properties of physical theories in space-times with two time dimensions. We show that the common arguments used to rule such theories out do not apply if the dynamics associated with the additional time dimension is thermal…
Despite its enormous empirical success, the formalism of quantum theory still raises fundamental questions: why is nature described in terms of complex Hilbert spaces, and what modifications of it could we reasonably expect to find in some…
Generalized probabilistic theories (GPTs) provide a framework in which a range of possible theories can be examined, including classical theory, quantum theory and those beyond. In general, enlarging the state space of a GPT leads to fewer…
Can quantum theory be applied on all scales? While there are many arguments for the universality of quantum theory, this question remains a subject of debate. It is unknown how far the existence of macroscopic irreversibility can be derived…
A fundamental resource in any communication and computation task is the amount of information that can be transmitted and processed. Information encoded in a classical system is limited by the dimension d_c of the system, i.e., the number…
Since its emergence, quantum mechanics has been a challenge for an understanding of reality which is based on our intuition in a classical world. Nevertheless, it has often been tried to impose this understanding of reality on quantum…
The interpretation of quantum theory is one of the longest-standing debates in physics. Type I interpretations see quantum probabilities as determined by intrinsic properties of the observed system. Type II see them as relational…
We introduce a hierarchical classification of theories that describe systems with fundamentally limited information content. This property is introduced in an operational way and gives rise to the existence of mutually complementary…
This article is an introductory work to a larger research project devoted to pure, applied and philosophical aspects of dimension theory. It concerns a novel approach toward an alternate dimension theory foundation: the point-dimension…
The purpose of this paper is to formalize the concept that best synthesizes our intuitive understanding of quantum mechanics -- that the information carried by a system is limited -- and, from this principle, to construct the foundations of…
Quantum mechanics has many counter-intuitive consequences which contradict our intuition which is based on classical physics. Here we discuss a special aspect of quantum mechanics, namely the possibility of entanglement between two or more…
Geometric quantum mechanics, through its differential-geometric underpinning, provides additional tools of analysis and interpretation that bring quantum mechanics closer to classical mechanics: state spaces in both are equipped with…
The rather unintuitive nature of quantum theory has led numerous people to develop sets of (physically motivated) principles that can be used to derive quantum mechanics from the ground up, in order to better understand where the structure…
This is a philosophical paper. It claims that there is a gap to be filled in the relationship between complexity theory (CT) and quantum theory (QT). This gap concerns two very distinct understandings of time. The paper provides the ground…
We present the quantum measurement problem as a serious physics problem. Serious because without a resolution, quantum theory is not complete, as it does not tell how one should - in principle - perform measurements. It is physical in the…