English

A Heptalemma for Quantum Mechanics

Quantum Physics 2026-04-09 v3 History and Philosophy of Physics

Abstract

We present a seven-pronged no-go result for quantum mechanics: a "heptalemma". It shows that seven initially plausible theses about physical reality are jointly inconsistent with the predictions of quantum mechanics, while any six are jointly consistent. We must then decide which theses to retain and which to give up. Since different interpretations of quantum mechanics entail different responses to the heptalemma, we get a novel taxonomy of such interpretations. Beyond the application to quantum mechanics, the heptalemma offers a general diagnostic criterion for determining whether a given scientific domain should count as classical or not, and if not, how it departs from classicality.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2512.01982,
  title  = {A Heptalemma for Quantum Mechanics},
  author = {John B. DeBrota and Christian List},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.01982},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

36 pages, 1 figure, 1 table. v2: Minor updates after feedback

R2 v1 2026-07-01T08:04:16.617Z