Related papers: An operational notion of classicality based on phy…
In this paper, epistemology and ontology of quantum states are discussed based on a completely new way of founding quantum theory. The fundamental notions are conceptual variables in the mind of an observer or in the joint minds of a group…
The quantum measurement problem, the unresolved conflict between the unitary evolution of the wave function and the postulate of wave function collapse, remains the most profound conceptual challenge in quantum foundations. While…
Quantum mechanics has transformed our understanding of reality, yet deep philosophical puzzles remain unresolved. Is there a consistent way to describe quantum measurement, the emergence of space and time, and the role of observers within…
The question of what ontological message (if any) is encoded in the formalism of contemporary physics is, to say the least, controversial. The reasons for this state of affairs are psychological and neurobiological. The processes by which…
In the framework of ontological models, the inherently nonclassical features of quantum theory always seem to involve properties that are fine tuned, i.e. properties that hold at the operational level but break at the ontological level.…
One area of physics education research has focused on the nature of ontologies (mental categorizations of concepts, substances and processes), and how they might be used to gain insight into student thinking when learning classical physics.…
Entanglement is often regarded as an inherently quantum feature. We show that this does not have to be the case: under restricted operational access, classical correlations can appear nonseparable when expressed in the formalism of quantum…
Recently, it has been argued that no extension of quantum theory can have improved predictive power under a strong assumption of free choice of the experimental settings and validity of quantum mechanics. Here, under a different free choice…
An operational probabilistic theory where all systems are classical, and all pure states of composite systems are entangled, is constructed. The theory is endowed with a rule for composing an arbitrary number of systems, and with a…
The interpretation of the meaning of Quantum Mechanics has faced controversy since its inception. Bell's inequalities are a touchstone in this controversy. Their observed violation demonstrates that at least one of the hypotheses involved…
Quantum theory makes the most accurate empirical predictions and yet it lacks simple, comprehensible physical principles from which the theory can be uniquely derived. A broad class of probabilistic theories exist which all share some…
This paper points out the importance of the assumption of locality of physical interactions, and the concomitant necessity of propagation of an entity (in this case, off-shell quanta - virtual gravitons) between two non-relativistic test…
The paper proves that quantum mechanics is compatible with the constructive realism of modern philosophy of science. The proof is based on the observation that properties of quantum systems that are uniquely determined by their preparations…
The present study attempts to provide a consistent and coherent account of what the world could be like, given the conceptual framework and results of contemporary quantum theory. It is suggested that standard quantum mechanics can, and…
One of the most important problems in Physics is how to reconcile Quantum Mechanics with General Relativity. Some authors have suggested that this may be realized at the expense of having to drop the quantum formalism in favor of a more…
According to scientific realism, science gives us an approximately true description of what the world is like. But what does it mean? In this chapter, we focus on the ontological and metaphysical aspects of this discussion. That is, we are…
The quantum theory of a harmonic oscillator with a time dependent frequency arises in several important physical problems, especially in the study of quantum field theory in an external background. While the mathematics of this system is…
The transition from quantum to classical statistics is studied in light of Huggett's finding that the empirical data do not support the usual claim that the distinction between classical and quantum objects consists in the capacity of…
We derive exceedingly simple practical procedures revealing the quantum nature of states and measurements by the violation of classical upper bounds on the statistics of arbitrary measurements. Data analysis is minimum and definite…
Witnessing non-classicality in the gravitational field has been claimed to be practically impossible. This constitutes a deep problem, which has even lead some researchers to question whether gravity should be quantised, due to the weakness…