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Related papers: Wigner's friend as a rational agent

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Wigner's friend thought experiment is intended to reveal the inherent tension between unitary evolution and measurement collapse. On the basis of Wigner's friend experiment, Brukner derives a no-go theorem for observer-independent facts. We…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2023-06-23 Dong Ding , Can Wang , Ying-Qiu He , Tong Hou , Ting Gao , Feng-Li Yan

In a recent paper, \.Zukowski and Markiewicz showed that Wigner's Friend (and, by extension, Schr\"odinger's Cat) can be eliminated as physical possibilities on purely logical grounds. I validate this result and demonstrate the source of…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2022-02-16 Andrew Knight

"Wigner's friend" refers to a quantum process of which different observers, following the rules of quantum mechanics, give contradictory descriptions. Lostaglio and Bowles have recently claimed to describe a classical system showing the…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2022-01-12 Anthony Sudbery

We present a discussion of the extended Wigner's friend thought experiment proposed by Frauchiger and Renner in [1]. We show by using various arguments, including textbook quantum mechanics and the ontological approach of Contexts, Systems,…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2023-01-10 Maxime Federico , Philippe Grangier

Exploiting the tension between the two dynamics of quantum theory (QT) in the Wigner's Friend thought experiment, we point out that the standard QT leads to inconsistency in observed probabilities of measurement outcomes between two…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2023-03-07 Shubhayan Sarkar , Debashis Saha

The Wigner's friend paradox concerns one of the most puzzling problems of quantum mechanics: the consistent description of multiple nested observers. Recently, a variation of Wigner's gedankenexperiment, introduced by Frauchiger and Renner,…

The concept of an isolated system, and Frauchiger and Renner's extended `Wigner's friend' scenario are discussed. It is argued that: (i) it is questionable whether the approximation of the isolated system is valid when measurement-like…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2026-05-12 Andrew Steane

There is a significant body of literature, which includes Itamar Pitowksy's "Betting on Outcomes of Measurements," that sheds light on the structure of quantum mechanics, and the ways in which it differs from classical mechanics, by casting…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2019-12-03 Wayne C. Myrvold

It is commonly expected that quantum theory is universal, in that it describes the world at all scales. Yet, quantum effects at the macroscopic scale continue to elude our experimental observation. This fact is commonly attributed to…

The measurement problem is seen as an ambiguity of quantum mechanics, or, beyond that, as a contradiction within the theory: Quantum mechanics offers two conflicting descriptions of the Wigner's-friend experiment. As we argue in this note…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2019-12-09 Arne Hansen , Stefan Wolf

Extended Wigner's Friend Scenarios (EWFSs) go beyond the standard usage of quantum theory, where agents are treated classically, and instead model agents as unitary evolving quantum systems. This has been the subject of several no-go…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2024-11-12 V. Vilasini , Mischa P. Woods

It is commonly thought that observers in distinct branches of an Everettian multiverse cannot communicate without violating the linearity of quantum theory. Here we show a counterexample, demonstrating that inter-branch communication is in…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2026-04-28 Maria Violaris

Wigner-positive quantum states have the peculiarity to admit a Wigner function that is a genuine probability distribution over phase space. The Shannon differential entropy of the Wigner function of such states -- called Wigner entropy for…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2026-01-27 Zacharie Van Herstraeten , Nicolas J. Cerf

We define the Wigner entropy of a quantum state as the differential Shannon entropy of the Wigner function of the state. This quantity is properly defined only for states that possess a positive Wigner function, which we name…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2022-01-03 Zacharie Van Herstraeten , Nicolas J. Cerf

It has recently been shown that it is possible to represent the complete quantum state of any system as a phase-space quasi-probability distribution (Wigner function) [Phys Rev Lett 117, 180401]. Such functions take the form of expectation…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2017-08-16 R. P. Rundle , P. W. Mills , Todd Tilma , J. H. Samson , M. J. Everitt

We review recent work that employs the framework of logical inference to establish a bridge between data gathered through experiments and their objective description in terms of human-made concepts. It is shown that logical inference…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2016-09-28 H. De Raedt , M. I. Katsnelson , K. Michielsen

In a publication (Nature Comm. 3711, 9 (2018)), Daniela Frauchiger and Renato Renner used a Wigner/friend gedanken experiment to argue that quantum mechanics cannot describe complex systems involving measuring agents. They were able to…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2023-09-20 Stuart Samuel

It is argued that Feynman's rules for evaluating probabilities, combined with von Neumann's principle of psycho-physical parallelism, help avoid inconsistencies, often associated with quantum theory. The former allows one to assign…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2020-12-02 Dmitri Sokolovski

Negativity of the Wigner function is arguably one of the most striking non-classical features of quantum states. Beyond its fundamental relevance, it is also a necessary resource for quantum speedup with continuous variables. As quantum…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2022-01-21 Ulysse Chabaud , Pierre-Emmanuel Emeriau , Frédéric Grosshans

This paper expresses what a breath of fresh air it has been since a few phenomenological philosophers have started to engage with QBism. In service of the newfound discussion, the aim of this exposition is to lay out the structure of QBism…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2023-03-13 Christopher A. Fuchs