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We reconsider the Decoherent Histories approach to Quantum Mechanics and we analyze some problems related to its interpretation which, according to us, have not been adequately clarified by its proponents. We put forward some assumptions…
We discuss the use of histories labelled by a continuous time in the approach to consistent-histories quantum theory in which propositions about the history of the system are represented by projection operators on a Hilbert space. This…
Coherence of a quantum state intrinsically depends on the choice of the reference basis. A natural question to ask is the following: if we use two or more incompatible reference bases, can~there be some trade-off relation between the…
Quantum mechanics is widely regarded as a complete theory, yet we argue it is a tractable projection of a deeper, computationally-inaccessible classical variational structure. By analyzing the coupled partial differential equations of the…
A qualification is suggested for the counterfactual reasoning involved in some aspects of time-symmetric quantum theory (which involves ensembles selected by both the initial and final states). The qualification is that the counterfactual…
An intense effort is being made today to build a quantum computer. Instead of presenting what has been achieved, I invoke here analogies from the history of science in an attempt to glimpse what the future might hold. Quantum computing is…
John Wheeler devised a gedanken experiment in which a piece of apparatus can be altered just before the arrival of particle, and this ``delayed choice'' can, seemingly, alter the quantum state of the particle at a much earlier time, long…
In this universe, governed fundamentally by quantum mechanical laws, characterized by indeterminism and distributed probabilities, classical deterministic laws are applicable over a wide range of time, place, and scale. We review the origin…
The decoherent (consistent) histories formalism has been proposed as a means of eliminating measurements as a fundamental concept in quantum mechanics. In this formalism, probabilities can be assigned to any description which satisfies a…
Recently, a delicately designed Gedankenexperiment was proposed to check the self-consistence of quantum theory in the description of the agents who are using this theory. It was demonstrated that the quantum theory is inconsistent. Here a…
Quantum mechanics, one of the most successful theories in the history of science, was created to account for physical systems not describable by classical physics. Though it is consistent with all experiments conducted thus far, many of its…
Quantum theory provides a significant example of two intermingling hallmarks of science: the ability to consistently combine physical systems and study them compositely, and the power to extract predictions in the form of correlations. A…
Familiar formulations of classical and quantum mechanics are shown to follow from a general theory of mechanics based on pure states with an intrinsic probability structure. This theory is developed to the stage where theorems from quantum…
In the Bayesian approach to probability theory, probability quantifies a degree of belief for a single trial, without any a priori connection to limiting frequencies. In this paper we show that, despite being prescribed by a fundamental…
A recent claim by Bassi and Ghirardi that the consistent (decoherent) histories approach cannot provide a realistic interpretation of quantum theory is shown to be based upon a misunderstanding of the single-framework rule: they have…
Experiments in cognitive science and decision theory show that the ways in which people combine concepts and make decisions cannot be described by classical logic and probability theory. This has serious implications for applied disciplines…
We introduce quantum history states and their mathematical framework, thereby reinterpreting and extending the consistent histories approach to quantum theory. Through thought experiments, we demonstrate that our formalism allows us to…
Quantum theory demands that, in contrast to classical physics, not all properties can be simultaneously well defined. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is a manifestation of this fact. Another important corollary arises that there can be…
Motivated by the advances of quantum Darwinism and recognizing the role played by redundancy in identifying the small subset of quantum states with resilience characteristic of objective classical reality, we explore the implications of…
The coherence of an individual quantum state can be meaningfully discussed only when referring to a preferred basis. This arbitrariness can however be lifted when considering sets of quantum states. Here we introduce the concept of set…