Wigner's Friend Depends on Self-Contradictory Quantum Amplification
Abstract
In a recent paper, \.Zukowski and Markiewicz showed that Wigner's Friend (and, by extension, Schr\"odinger's Cat) can be eliminated as physical possibilities on purely logical grounds. I validate this result and demonstrate the source of the contradiction in a simple experiment in which a scientist S attempts to measure the position of object by using measuring device M chosen so that and . I assume that the measurement occurs by quantum amplification without collapse, in which M can entangle with O in a way that remains reversible by S for some nonzero time period. This assumption implies that during this "reversible" time period, and -- i.e., the macroscopic pointer state to which M evolves is uncorrelated to the position of O relative to S. When the scientist finally observes the measuring device, its macroscopic pointer state is uncorrelated to the object in position or , rendering the notion of "reversible measurement" a logical contradiction.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2202.07111,
title = {Wigner's Friend Depends on Self-Contradictory Quantum Amplification},
author = {Andrew Knight},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2202.07111},
year = {2022}
}