Related papers: Generalised Reichenbachian Common Cause Systems

The principle of common cause asserts that positive correlations between causally unrelated events ought to be explained through the action of some shared causal factors. Reichenbachian common cause systems are probabilistic structures…

It is shown that, given any finite set of pairs of random events in a Boolean algebra which are correlated with respect to a fixed probability measure on the algebra, the algebra can be extended in such a way that the extension contains…

Bell's 1964 theorem causes a severe problem for the notion that correlations require explanation, encapsulated in Reichenbach's Principle of Common Cause. Despite being a hallmark of scientific thought, dropping the principle has been…

Reichenbach defined a common cause which explains a correlation between two events if either one does not cause the other. Its intuitive idea is that the statistical ensemble can be divided into two disjoint parts so that the correlation…

Reichenbach's principle asserts that if two observed variables are found to be correlated, then there should be a causal explanation of these correlations. Furthermore, if the explanation is in terms of a common cause, then the conditional…

The common cause principle for two random variables $A$ and $B$ is examined in the case of causal insufficiency, when their common cause $C$ is known to exist, but only the joint probability of $A$ and $B$ is observed. As a result, $C$…

Reichenbach's Common Cause Principle claims that if there is correlation between two events and none of them is directly causally influenced by the other, then there must exist a third event that can, as a common cause, account for the…

States in algebraic quantum field theory "typically" establish correlation between spacelike separated events. Reichenbach's Common Cause Principle, generalized to the quantum field theoretical setting, offers an apt tool to causally…

Reichenbach's principle states that in a causal structure, correlations of classical information can stem from a common cause in the common past or a direct influence from one of the events in correlation to the other. The difficulty of…

The principle of common cause is discussed as a possible fundamental principle of physics. Some revisions of Reichenbach's formulation of the principle are given, which lead to a version given by Bell. Various similar forms are compared and…

We introduce the coordination principle, which states that perfect coordination, in the form of agreement on a uniformly random output, among N parties is possible only if they share a common cause. This principle is purely causal and can…

We propose a novel causal principle that is a genuinely multipartite extension of Reichenbach's common cause principle, namely, the coordination principle: parties in a network can achieve perfect randomized coordination--in particular,…

Identifying causal relationships from observation data is difficult, in large part, due to the presence of hidden common causes. In some cases, where just the right patterns of conditional independence and dependence lie in the data---for…

In classic cases, Reichenbach's principle implies that discriminating between common causes and causality is unprincipled since the discriminative results essentially depend on the selection of possible conditional variables. For some…

Simpson's paradox is an obstacle to establishing a probabilistic association between two events $a_1$ and $a_2$, given the third (lurking) random variable $B$. We focus on scenarios when the random variables $A$ (which combines $a_1$,…

The common cause completeness (CCC) is a philosophical principle that asserts that if we consider two positively correlated events then it evokes a common cause. The principle is due to H. Reichenbach and has been largely studied in Boolean…

Individuals have an intuitive perception of what makes a good coincidence. Though the sensitivity to coincidences has often been presented as resulting from an erroneous assessment of probability, it appears to be a genuine competence,…

We prove new results on common cause closedness of quantum probability spaces, where by a quantum probability space is meant the projection lattice of a non-commutative von Neumann algebra together with a countably additive probability…

The likelihood principle makes strong claims about the nature of statistical evidence but is controversial. Its claims are undermined by the existence of several examples that are assumed to show that it allows, with unity probability,…

The plausibility of uncommon events and miracles based on testimony of such an event has been much discussed. When analyzing the probabilities involved, it has mostly been assumed that the common events can be taken as data in the…