Universal quantum theory contains twisted logic
Abstract
Quantum theory is notoriously counterintuitive, and yet remains entirely self-consistent when applied universally. Here we uncover a new manifestation of its unusual consequences. We demonstrate, theoretically and experimentally (by means of polarization-encoded single-photon qubits), that Heisenberg's uncertainty principle leads to the impossibility of stringing together logical deductions about outcomes of consecutive non-compatible measurements. This phenomenon resembles the geometry of a Penrose triangle, where each corner is locally consistent while the global structure is impossible. Besides this, we show how overlooking this non-trivial logical structure leads to the erroneous possibility of distinguishing non-orthogonal states with a single measurement.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2409.20480,
title = {Universal quantum theory contains twisted logic},
author = {Francesco Atzori and Enrico Rebufello and Maria Violaris and Laura T. Knoll and Abdulla Alhajri and Alessio Avella and Marco Gramegna and Chiara Marletto and Vlatko Vedral and Fabrizio Piacentini and Ivo Pietro Degiovanni and Marco Genovese},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.20480},
year = {2024}
}