Related papers: Quantum histories without contrary inferences
We study the Wheeler-DeWitt quantum cosmology of a spatially flat Friedmann cosmological model with a massless free scalar field. We compare the consistent histories approach with the de Broglie-Bohm theory when applied to this simple model…
This paper discusses the relation between the decoherent histories approach to quantum mechanics that is based on coarse-grained decoherent histories of a closed system, and the approximate quantum mechanics of measured subsystems, as in…
Incompatibility between conjugate variables and complementary pictures comes in two kinds, exclusive of one another. The first kind is unconditional, and the second conditional on quantum's indivisibility. We employ this distinction to…
The new orthodoxy of quantum mechanics (QM) based on the decoherence approach requires many-worlds as an essential ingredient for logical consistency, and one may wonder what status to give to all these "other worlds". Here we advocate that…
The basic ingredients of the `consistent histories' approach to quantum theory are a space $\UP$ of `history propositions' and a space $\D$ of `decoherence functionals'. In this article we consider such history quantum theories in the case…
Recent theoretical results confirm that quantum theory provides the possibility of new ways of performing efficient calculations. The most striking example is the factoring problem. It has recently been shown that computers that exploit…
The theory of probability and the quantum theory, the one mathematical and the other physical, are related in that each admits a number of very different interpretations. It has been proposed that the conceptual problems of the quantum…
We explore the implications of restricting the framework of quantum theory and quantum computation to finite fields. The simplest proposed theory is defined over arbitrary finite fields and loses the notion of unitaries. This makes such…
We show that quantum oracles provide an advantage over classical oracles for answering classical counterfactual questions in causal models, or equivalently, for identifying unknown causal parameters such as distributions over functional…
The predictions of the Bohmian and the decoherent (or consistent) histories formulations of the quantum mechanics of a closed system are compared for histories -- sequences of alternatives at a series of times. For certain kinds of…
Contrary to an oft-made claim, there can be observational distinctions (say for the expansion of the universe or the cosmological constant) between "single-history" quantum theories and "many-worlds" quantum theories. The distinctions occur…
A common way of stating the non-cloning theorem -- one of distinguishing characteristics of quantum theory -- is that one cannot make a copy of an arbitrary unknown quantum state. Even though this theorem is an important part of the ongoing…
We revise the problem of the quantization of relativistic particle, presenting a modified consistent canonical scheme, which allows one not only to include arbitrary backgrounds in the consideration but to get in course of the quantization…
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…
Recent works on the decoherent histories formalism suggested that macroscopic quantities (extensive sums of local observables) in quantum many-body systems can be consistently monitored: The existence of past measurements does not alter…
We formulate a systematic construction of commuting quantum traces for reflection algebras. This is achieved by introducing two sets of generalized reflection equations with associated consistent fusion procedures. Products of their…
We reconstruct the transformations of quantum theory using a physically motivated postulate. This postulate states that transformations should be locally applicable, and recovers the linear isometries from pure quantum theory, as well as…
Unruh has commented upon my recent proof that certain predictions of quantum theory are incompatible with the assertion that no influence of any kind acts backward in time in any Lorentz frame. Unruh fails to make a necessary distinction…
The consistent histories formalism can be used to describe histories comprised of events across many systems, times, and places, plausibly rich enough to describe our experiences of the classical world; however, many consistent history sets…
It is noted that quantum theory includes the correspondence principle which is independent of the value of quantum corrections. Some consequences of this generalized correspondence principle are considered. For example, it is discussed how…