Related papers: Categorical Quantum Mechanics I: Causal Quantum Pr…
Quantum theory predicts probabilities as well as relative phases between different alternatives of the system. A unified description of both probabilities and phases comes through a generalisation of the notion of a density matrix for…
Causal reasoning is essential to science, yet quantum theory challenges it. Quantum correlations violating Bell inequalities defy satisfactory causal explanations within the framework of classical causal models. What is more, a theory…
Our starting point is a particular `canvas' aimed to `draw' theories of physics, which has symmetric monoidal categories as its mathematical backbone. In this paper we consider the conceptual foundations for this canvas, and how these can…
A 'process theory' is any theory of systems and processes which admits sequential and parallel composition. `Terminality' unifies normalisation of pure states, trace-preservation of CP-maps, and adding up to identity of positive operators…
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 the second part of a three-part overview, in which we derive the category-theoretic backbone of quantum theory from a process ontology, treating quantum theory as a theory of systems, processes and their interactions. In this part…
In the present work, quantum theory is founded on the framework of consciousness, in contrast to earlier suggestions that consciousness might be understood starting from quantum theory. The notion of streams of consciousness, usually…
We give a review of concepts related to connection of classical and quantum theories, from the phase space perspective. Quantum theory is described by non-commutative operators of coordinates and momenta, results in values having a certain…
This brief article gives an overview of quantum mechanics as a {\em quantum probability theory}. It begins with a review of the basic operator-algebraic elements that connect probability theory with quantum probability theory. Then quantum…
The act of describing how a physical process changes a system is the basis for understanding observed phenomena. For quantum-mechanical processes in particular, the affect of processes on quantum states profoundly advances our knowledge of…
Quantum causality extends the conventional notion of fixed causal structure by allowing channels and operations to act in an indefinite causal order. The importance of such an indefinite causal order ranges from the foundational---e.g.…
We present a categorical construction for modelling causal structures within a general class of process theories that include the theory of classical probabilistic processes as well as quantum theory. Unlike prior constructions within…
Many insights into the quantum world can be found by studying it from amongst more general operational theories of physics. In this thesis, we develop an approach to the study of such theories purely in terms of the behaviour of their…
Quantum theory can be understood as pointing to an ontology of relations. I observe that this reading of quantum mechanics is supported by the ubiquity of relationality in contemporary fundamental physics, including in classical mechanics,…
We look into the ontology of quantum theory as distinct from that of the classical theory in the sciences, following a broadly Kantian tradition and distinguishing between the noumenal and phenomenal realities where the former is…
It is shown that quantum mechanics is a plausible statistical description of an ontology described by classical electrodynamics. The reason that no contradiction arises with various no-go theorems regarding the compatibility of QM with a…
We show that the linearity of an evolution of Quantum Mechanics follows from the definition of kinematics. The same result is obtained for an arbitrary theory with the state space that includes mixtures of different preparations. Next, we…
Essential elements of quantum theory are derived from an epistemic point of view, i.e., the viewpoint that thetheory has to do with what can be said about nature. This gives a relationship to statistical reasoning and to other areas of…
Physical processes in the quantum regime possess non-classical properties of quantum mechanics. However, methods for quantitatively identifying such processes are still lacking. Accordingly, in this study, we develop a framework for…
Is quantum mechanics about 'states'? Or is it basically another kind of probability theory? It is argued that the elementary formalism of quantum mechanics operates as a well-justified alternative to 'classical' instantiations of a…