English

Quantum Logic and Meaning

History and Philosophy of Physics 2025-11-12 v5

Abstract

This paper gives a formulation of quantum logic in the abstract algebraic setting laid out by Dunn and Hardegree (2001). On this basis, it provides a comparative analysis of viable quantum logical bivalent semantics and their classical counterparts, thereby showing that the truth-functional status of classical and quantum connectives is not as different as usually thought. Then it points out that bivalent semantics for quantum logic -- compatible with realism about quantum mechanics -- can be maintained, albeit at the price of truth-functionality. Finally, the paper critically addresses Geoffrey Hellman's argument (1980) that this lack of truth-functionality entails a change of meaning between classical and quantum connectives.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2304.08450,
  title  = {Quantum Logic and Meaning},
  author = {Sebastian Horvat and Iulian D. Toader},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2304.08450},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

30 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-28T10:08:42.268Z