Related papers: Quantum Theory of Probability and Decisions
The concept of probability was prominent in the original foundations of quantum mechanics, and continues to be so today. Indeed, the controversies regarding objective and subjective interpretations of probability have again become active. I…
A number of phenomena generally believed characteristic of quantum mechanics and seen as interpretively problematic--the incompatibility and value-indeterminacy of variables, the non-existence of dispersion-free states, the failure of the…
Quantum theory is a probabilistic theory with fixed causal structure. General relativity is a deterministic theory but where the causal structure is dynamic. It is reasonable to expect that quantum gravity will be a probabilistic theory…
We take the view that physical quantities are values generated by processes in measurement, not pre-existent objective quantities, and that a measurement result is strictly a product of the apparatus and the subject of the measurement. We…
An understanding of quantum theory in terms of new, underlying descriptions capable of explaining the existence of non-classical correlations, non-commutativity of measurements and other unique and counter-intuitive phenomena remains still…
We provide a mechanism by which, from a background independent model with no quantum mechanics, quantum theory arises in the same limit in which spatial properties appear. Starting with an arbitrary abstract graph as the microscopic model…
We provide a decision-theoretic framework for dealing with uncertainty in quantum mechanics. This uncertainty is two-fold: on the one hand there may be uncertainty about the state the quantum system is in, and on the other hand, as is…
The requirement of general covariance of quantum field theory (QFT) naturally leads to quantization based on the manifestly covariant De Donder-Weyl formalism. To recover the standard noncovariant formalism without violating covariance,…
Quantum theory is indeterministic, but not completely so. When a system is in a pure state there are properties it possesses with certainty, known as actual properties. The actual properties of a quantum system (in a pure state) fully…
Cromwell's rule (also known as the zero priors paradox) refers to the constraint of classical probability theory that if one assigns a prior probability of 0 or 1 to a hypothesis, then the posterior has to be 0 or 1 as well (this is a…
Quantum theory, originally proposed as a physical theory to describe the motions of microscopic particles, has been applied to various non-physics domains involving human cognition and decision-making that are inherently uncertain and…
I take a pragmatist perspective on quantum theory. This is not a view of the world described by quantum theory. In this view quantum theory itself does not describe the physical world, nor our observatons, experiences or opinions of it.…
Bayesian probability theory is used as a framework to develop a formalism for the scientific method based on principles of inductive reasoning. The formalism allows for precise definitions of the key concepts in theories of physics and also…
Quantum advantage is notoriously hard to find and even harder to prove. For example the class of functions computable with classical physics actually exactly coincides with the class computable quantum-mechanically. It is strongly believed,…
Quantum theory is formulated as the uniquely consistent way to manipulate probability amplitudes. The crucial ingredient is a consistency constraint: if the amplitude of a quantum process can be computed in two different ways, the two…
Probabilistic description of results of measurements and its consequences for understanding quantum mechanics are discussed. It is shown that the basic mathematical structure of quantum mechanics like the probability amplitudes, Born rule,…
For classical field theories with probabilistic initial conditions the classical field observables are an idealization. Their arbitrarily precise values poorly reflect the characteristic uncertainty in the presence of substantial…
This paper reports three almost trivial theorems that nevertheless appear to have significant import for quantum foundations studies. 1) A Gleason-like derivation of the quantum probability law, but based on the positive operator-valued…
The program of a physical concept of information is outlined in the framework of quantum theory. A proposal is made for how to avoid the introduction of axiomatic observables. The conventional (collapse) and the Everett interpretations of…
Spacetime manifolds that are not time orientable play a key role in a gravitational explanation of quantum theory. Such manifolds allow topology change, but also have fascinating additional properties such as net charge from source-free…