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The notorious quantum measurement problem brings out the difficulty to reconcile two quantum postulates: the unitary evolution of closed quantum systems and the wave-function collapse after a measurement. This problematics is particularly…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2022-08-24 George Moreno , Ranieri Nery , Cristhiano Duarte , Rafael Chaves

Recently the Local Friendliness (LF) no-go theorem has gained a lot of attention, owing to its deep foundational implications. This no-go theorem applies to scenarios which combine Bell experiments with Wigner's friend-type set ups,…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-07-31 Marwan Haddara , Eric G. Cavalcanti

The extended Wigner's friend problem deals with two Observers each measuring a sealed laboratory in which a friend is making a quantum measurement. We investigate this problem by relying on the basic rules of quantum mechanics as exposed by…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2021-10-19 D. Sokolovski , A. Matzkin

The notion of measurements is central for many debates in quantum mechanics. One critical point is whether a measurement can be regarded as an absolute event, giving the same result for any observer in an irreversible manner. Using ideas…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2023-02-20 Zhen-Peng Xu , Jonathan Steinberg , H. Chau Nguyen , Otfried Gühne

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

In 1962, Eugene P. Wigner introduced a thought experiment that highlighted the incompatibility in quantum theory between unitary evolution and wave function reduction in a measurement. This work resulted in a class of thought experiments…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2021-05-19 Vinicius P. Rossi , Diogo O. Soares-Pinto

We discuss Wiseman, Cavalcanti and Rieffel's "thoughtful" local friendliness no-go theorem and the experimental programme they propose to test local friendliness inequalities. We argue that, to prove the theorem, the assumptions need to be…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2023-03-17 Adrian Kent

We take a fresh look at Wigner's Friend thought-experiment and some of its more recent variants and extensions, such as the Frauchiger-Renner (FR) Paradox. We discuss various solutions proposed in the literature, focusing on a few…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2024-04-09 Alexandru Baltag , Sonja Smets

The decoherence interpretation of quantum measurements is applied to Wigner's friend experiments. A framework in which all the experimental outcomes arise from unitary evolutions is proposed. Within it, a measurement is not completed until…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2020-03-25 Armando Relaño

The scientific method relies on facts, established through repeated measurements and agreed upon universally, independently of who observed them. In quantum mechanics, the objectivity of observations is not so clear, most dramatically…

The Wigner's friend thought experiment was intended to illustrate the difficulty one has in describing an agent as a quantum system when that agent performs a measurement. While it does pose a challenge to the orthodox interpretation of…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2024-09-12 David Schmid , Yìlè Yīng , Matthew Leifer

A recent no-go theorem gives an extension of the Wigner's friend argument that purports to prove that "Quantum theory cannot consistently describe the use of itself." The argument is complex and thought provoking, but fails in a…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2020-03-18 Anthony Rizzi

The Frauchiger--Renner paradox derives an inconsistency when quantum theory is used to describe the use of itself, by means of a scenario where agents model other agents quantumly and reason about each other's knowledge. We observe that…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2026-05-27 Laurens Walleghem , Rui Soares Barbosa , Matthew F. Pusey , Stefan Weigert

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,…

There has been an upsurge of interest in the consequences for quantum physics of the so-called Wigner's Friend Paradox. In its original formulation, the paradox has been turned inside out, and virtually every aspect of it has been looked…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2026-05-28 Julio C. F. Silva , B. F. Rizzuti , Cristhiano Duarte

Wigner Friend scenarios -- in which an external agent describes quantum mechanically a laboratory in which a Friend is making a measurement -- give rise to possible inconsistencies due to the ambiguous character of quantum measurements. In…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2020-12-08 A. Matzkin , D. Sokolovski

In a recent no-go theorem [Bong et al, Nature Physics (2020)], we proved that the predictions of unitary quantum mechanics for an extended Wigner's friend scenario are incompatible with any theory satisfying three metaphysical assumptions,…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2021-03-25 Eric G. Cavalcanti

The original Wigner's friend paradox is a gedankenexperiment involving an observer described by an external agent. The paradox highlights the tension between unitary evolution and collapse in quantum theory, and is sometimes taken as…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2021-10-22 Matteo Lostaglio , Joseph Bowles

This paper builds on no-go theorems to the effect that quantum theory is inconsistent with observations being absolute; that is, unique and non-relative. Unlike the existing no-go results, the one introduced here is based on a…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2022-09-09 Nick Ormrod , Jonathan Barrett

We introduce a new paradox, which we call Counterfactual Local Friendliness (CLF): a Wigner's-friend-type logical collision in which every decisive inference is obtained by interaction-free flags whose disturbance on the probed object is…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-09-03 Maximilian Ralph Peter von Liechtenstein