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We address the question of whether a non-nomological (i.e., anomic) interpretation of the wavefunction is compatible with the quantum formalism. After clarifying the distinction between ontic, epistemic, nomic and anomic models we focus our…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2021-05-14 Aurélien Drezet

The question whether indeterminism in quantum measurement outcomes is fundamental or is there a possibility of constructing a finer theory underlying quantum mechanics that allows no such indeterminism, has been debated for a long time. We…

Status of quantum wavefunction is one of the most debated issues in quantum foundations -- whether it corresponds directly to the reality or just represents knowledge or information about some aspect of reality. In this letter we propose a…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2021-09-01 Anandamay Das Bhowmik , Preeti Parashar , Manik Banik

In this paper we consider theories in which reality is described by some underlying variables. Each value these variables can take represents an ontic state (a particular state of reality). The preparation of a quantum state corresponds to…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2015-06-05 Lucien Hardy

We investigate the minimal proof for ruling out maximally $\psi-$epistemic interpretations of quantum theory, in which the indistinguishable nature of two quantum states is fully explained by the epistemic overlap of their corresponding…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-09-15 Sagnik Ray , Anubhav Chaturvedi , Debashis Saha

According to Relational Quantum Mechanics (RQM) the wave function $\psi$ is considered neither a concrete physical item evolving in spacetime, nor an object representing the absolute state of a certain quantum system. In this interpretative…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2021-08-18 Andrea Oldofredi , Claudio Calosi

Certain concrete "ontological models" for quantum mechanics (models in which measurement outcomes are deterministic and quantum states are equivalent to classical probability distributions over some space of `hidden variables') are…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2007-05-23 Terry Rudolph

A novel no-go theorem is presented which sets a bound upon the extent to which '\Psi-epistemic' interpretations of quantum theory are able to explain the overlap between non-orthogonal quantum states in terms of an experimenter's ignorance…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2013-05-23 O. J. E. Maroney

An ontological model is termed as maximally $\psi$-epistemic if the overlap between any two quantum states is fully accounted for by the overlap of their respective probability distributions of ontic states. However, in literature, there…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2021-05-26 A. K. Pan

The toy model used by Spekkens [R. Spekkens, Phys. Rev. A 75, 032110 (2007)] to argue in favor of an epistemic view of quantum mechanics is extended by generalizing his definition of pure states (i.e. states of maximal knowledge) and by…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2007-11-08 S. J. van Enk

One of the recent no-go theorems on \Psi-epistemic interpretations of quantum proves that there are no 'maximally epistemic' interpretations of quantum theory. The proof utilises similar arrangements to Clifton's quantum contextuality proof…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2012-08-01 O. J. E. Maroney

A classical state-preparation device cannot generate states in relative superposition. We introduce classical models in which devices that are individually unable to generate states with relative superposition can be stochastically…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2026-02-03 Gabriele Cobucci , Alexander Bernal , Martin J. Renner , Armin Tavakoli

In discussion of the interpretation of quantum mechanics the terms `ontic' and `epistemic' are often used in the sense of pertaining to what exists, and pertaining to cognition or knowledge respectively. The terms are also often associated…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2024-06-24 Jonte R. Hance , John Rarity , James Ladyman

In the paper "Quantum theory cannot consistently describe the use of itself" by D. Frauchiger and R. Renner an atempt is made at proving a "no-go theorem" that states that either quantum theory cannot be universally applied, even to…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2021-06-15 Antonio Bernal

In Nature Phys. 8:475-478 (2012), Pusey, Barrett, and Rudolph have claimed that {\psi}-epistemic quantum mechanics (QM) is inconsistent with predictions of standard QM. Here we show that Pusey et al. err in the beginning of their argument…

General Physics · Physics 2018-12-20 Marcoen J. T. F. Cabbolet

The ontological model framework provides a rigorous approach to address the question of whether the quantum state is ontic or epistemic. When considering only conventional projective measurements, auxiliary assumptions are always needed to…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2015-09-01 Shan Gao

Quantum (Poincar\'e) recurrence theorem are known for closed quantum (classical) systems. Can recurrence happen in open systems? We provide the recurrence theorem for open quantum systems via non-Hermitian (NH) description. We find that PT…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2024-03-01 Zhihang Liu , Chao Zheng

The ontological models framework distinguishes $\psi$-ontic from $\psi$-epistemic wavefunctions. It is, in general, quite straightforward to categorize the wave-function of a certain quantum theory. Nevertheless, there has been a debate…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2023-01-04 Mario Hubert

We investigate the cases where a set $S$ of states $\{\ket{\psi_i} \}$ cannot be cloned by itself, but is clonable with the help of another system prepared in state $\hat{\rho}_i$. When $S$ is pair-wise nonorthogonal, it is known that one…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2007-05-23 Koji Azuma , Masato Koashi , Hosho Katsura , Nobuyuki Imoto

As a counterexample to $\psi$-ontology theorems we consider a $\psi$-epistemic interpretation of the wave function in the configuration space representation with a configuration space trajectory defining the ontology. This shows that…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2019-06-05 I. Schmelzer