Deeper insight leads to better practice. We show how the study of the foundations of quantum mechanics has led to new pictures of open systems and to a method of computation which is practical and can be used where others cannot. We illustrate the power of the new method by a series of pictures that show the emergence of classical features in a quantum world. We compare the development of quantum mechanics and of the theory of (biological) evolution.
We discuss foundation of quantum mechanics (interpretations, superposition, principle of complementarity, locality, hidden variables) and quantum information theory.
This preprint contains a detailed Preface to Proceedinngs of the International Conference ``Foundations of Probability and Physics-3'' held in Växjö, Sweden, 7-12 June 2004; table of contents and round table. The main theme of the round table was {\it ``Fundamental problems in quantum mechanics, probabilistic description of reality, and quantum information.''} The topics that were specifically discussed were that of Quantum Cryptography, Quantum computing, and Quantum Macroscopic Structures. For each of these topics, the participants were asked to discuss which are the crucial Quantum features…
This is a transcript of the round table that took place during the conference Quantum Theory: Reconsideration of Foundations - 3, June 2005, Vaxjo, Sweden. There are presented opinions of leading experts in quantum foundations on such fundamental problems as the origin of quantum fluctuations and completeness of quantum mechanics.
The goal of machine learning is to facilitate a computer to execute a specific task without explicit instruction by an external party. Quantum foundations seeks to explain the conceptual and mathematical edifice of quantum theory. Recently, ideas from machine learning have successfully been applied to different problems in quantum foundations. Here, we compile the representative works done so far at the interface of machine learning and quantum foundations. We conclude the survey with potential future directions.
This is a collection of references (papers, books, preprints, book reviews, Ph. D. thesis, patents, web sites, etc.), sorted alphabetically and (some of them) classified by subject, on foundations of quantum mechanics and quantum information. Specifically, it covers hidden variables (``no-go'' theorems, experiments), interpretations of quantum mechanics, entanglement, quantum effects (quantum Zeno effect, quantum erasure, ``interaction-free'' measurements, quantum ``non-demolition'' measurements), quantum information (cryptography, cloning, dense coding, teleportation), and quantum computation…
The purpose of this paper is to survey some topics on mathematical foundations of quantum information developed mainly by the present author and co-workers for the last three decades. The topics include an axiomatic construction of quantum measurement theory based on completely positive map-valued measures, a universally valid new formulation of the uncertainty principle for error and disturbance in quantum measurements, the Wigner-Araki-Yanase limit of quantum measurements, the accuracy limit of quantum computing based on conservation laws, and a quantum interpretation based on quantum set th…
The Weltanschauung emerging from quantum theory clashes profoundly with our classical concepts. Quantum characteristics like superposition, entanglement, wave-particle duality, nonlocality, contextuality are difficult to reconcile with our everyday intuition. In this article I survey some aspects of quantum foundations and discuss intriguing connections with the foundations of mathematics.
This paper presents the thermal interpretation of quantum physics. The insight from Part I of this series that Born's rule has its limitations -- hence cannot be the foundation of quantum physics -- opens the way for an alternative interpretation -- the thermal interpretation of quantum physics. It gives new foundations that connect quantum physics (including quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, quantum field theory and their applications) to experiment. The thermal interpretation resolves the problems of the foundations of quantum physics revealed in the critique from Part I of this seri…
This paper summarizes the basics of the notion of quantum discord and how it relates to other types of correlations in quantum physics. We take the fundamental information theoretic approach and illustrate our exposition with a number of simple examples.
We make a brief review of (optical) Holonomic Quantum Computer (or Computation) proposed by Zanardi and Rasetti (quant-ph/9904011) and Pachos and Chountasis (quant-ph/9912093), and give a mathematical reinforcement to their works.
The purpose of the conference (the fourth in the series of Vaxjo conferences) was to bring together scientists (physicists, mathematicians and philosophers) who are interested in foundations of quantum physics. An emphasis was made on both theory and experiment, the underlying objective being to offer to the physical, mathematical and philosophic communities a truly interdisciplinary conference as a privileged place for a scientific interaction. Due to the actual increased role of foundations in the development of quantum information theory as well as the necessity to reconsider foundations at…
We point out that a new mechanism for radiation should exist if the Bohm theory of quantum mechanics is taken seriously. By traversing a quantum potential, an electron will necessarily be accelerated and radiate. For an illustration, we show that in the double-slit experiment this radiation yields a characteristic spectrum and a distinct pattern on the screen that is complementary to the pattern of the electrons. Experimentally, either the existence or the nonexistence of such a radiation would have important implications for the foundations of quantum mechanics.
Quantum non-locality has been an extremely fruitful subject of research, leading the scientific revolution towards quantum information science, in particular to device-independent quantum information processing. We argue that time is ripe to work on another basic problem in the foundations of quantum physics, the quantum measurement problem, that should produce good physics both in theoretical, mathematical, experimental and applied physics. We briefly review how quantum non-locality contributed to physics (including some outstanding open problems) and suggest ways in which questions around Ma…
Prediction is the making of statements, usually probabilistic, about future events based on current information. Retrodiction is the making of statements about past events based on current information. We present the foundations of quantum retrodiction and highlight its intimate connection with the Bayesian interpretation of probability. The close link with Bayesian methods enables us to explore controversies and misunderstandings about retrodiction that have appeared in the literature. To be clear, quantum retrodiction is universally applicable and draws its validity directly from conventiona…
This is a short text covering some topics on the Foundations of Quantum Theory and it includes some comments on the recent Nature article by D. Frauchiger and R. Renner. The so-called "paradox" is simply due to a misunderstanding on the appropriate way to apply the quantum mechanical rules. The text is meant to be accessible to non physicists and the math is kept to a minimum (just some Linear Algebra and extremely elementary Probability Theory).
Quantum computation teaches us that quantum mechanics exhibits exponential complexity. We argue that the standard scientific paradigm of "predict and verify" cannot be applied to testing quantum mechanics in this limit of high complexity. We describe how QM can be tested in this regime by extending the usual scientific paradigm to include {\it interactive experiments}.
The foundational ideas of quantum mechanics continue to give rise to counterintuitive theories and physical effects that are in conflict with a classical description of Nature. Experiments with light at the single photon level have historically been at the forefront of tests of fundamental quantum theory and new developments in photonics engineering continue to enable new experiments. Here we review recent photonic experiments to test two foundational themes in quantum mechanics: wave-particle duality, central to recent complementarity and delayed-choice experiments; and Bell nonlocality where…
This thesis is a contribution to the debate on the implications of quantum information theory for the foundations of quantum mechanics. In Part 1, the logical and conceptual status of various notions of information is assessed. It is emphasized that the everyday notion of information is to be firmly distinguished from the technical notions arising in information theory; however it is maintained that in both settings `information' functions as an abstract noun, hence does not refer to a particular or substance (the worth of this point is illustrated in application to quantum teleportation). The…
We review some current ideas about tripartite entanglement, the case representing the next level of complexity beyond the simplest one (though far from trivial), namely the bipartite. This kind of entanglement has an essential role in the understanding of foundations of quantum mechanics. Also, it allows several applications in the fields of quantum information processing and quantum computing. In this paper, we make a revision about the main foundational aspects of tripartite entanglement and we discuss the possibility of using it as a resource to execute quantum protocols. We present some ex…
I show that quantum theory is the only probabilistic framework that permits arbitrary processes to be emulated by sequences of local measurements. This supports the view that, contrary to conventional wisdom, measurement should not be regarded as a complex phenomenon in need of a dynamical explanation but rather as a primitive -- and perhaps the only primitive -- operation of the theory.
We introduce a foundational sheaf theoretical scheme for the comprehension of quantum event structures, in terms of localization systems consisting of Boolean coordinatization coverings induced by measurement. The scheme is based on the existence of a categorical adjunction between presheaves of Boolean event algebras and Quantum event algebras. On the basis of this adjoint correspondence we prove the existence of an object of truth values in the category of quantum logics, characterized as subobject classifier. This classifying object plays the equivalent role that the two-valued Boolean trut…
The foundations of non-linear quantum mechanics are based on six postulates and five propositions. On a first quantised level, these approaches are built on non-linear differential operators, non-linear eigenvalue equations, and the notion of non-linear observables and non-linear states. The present theory predicts that the non-linear function solution of a non-linear partial differential equation for a free particle is correct and that the commutator of the position operator and the non-linear momentum operator does not commute. Moreover, the implicit wave function of linear quantum mechanics…
Measurement Independence is an assumption used in foundational arguments since the EPR thought experiment in 1935, and assumed in a majority of hidden variable models of QM. In this thesis we review the crucial role of this assumption in several ontological theorems, develop new measurement dependent models having interesting properties, and a protocol for classical simulation of quantum channels using such a model. In particular, a maximally psi-epistemic model is given which is valid for any dimension of Hilbert space(by violating preparation independence assumption).
We describe a new class of experiments designed to probe the foundations of quantum mechanics. Using quantum controlling devices, we show how to attain a freedom in temporal ordering of the control and detection of various phenomena. We consider wave-particle duality in the context of quantum-controlled and the entanglement-assisted delayed-choice experiments. Then we discuss a quantum-controlled CHSH experiment and measurement of photon's transversal position and momentum in a single set-up.
Foundational investigations in quantum mechanics, both experimental and theoretical, gave birth to the field of quantum information science. Nevertheless, the foundations of quantum mechanics themselves remain hotly debated in the scientific community, and no consensus on essential questions has been reached. Here, we present the results of a poll carried out among 33 participants of a conference on the foundations of quantum mechanics. The participants completed a questionnaire containing 16 multiple-choice questions probing opinions on quantum-foundational issues. Participants included physi…
A survey probing respondents' views on various foundational issues in quantum mechanics was recently created by Schlosshauer, Kofler, and Zeilinger [arXiv:1301.1069] and then given to 33 participants at a quantum foundations conference. Here we report the results of giving this same survey to the attendees at another recent quantum foundations conference. While it is rather difficult to conclude anything of scientific significance from the poll, the results do strongly suggest several interesting cultural facts -- for example, that there exist, within the broad field of "quantum foundations", …
This paper is a programmatic article presenting an outline of a new view of the foundations of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. In short, the proposed foundations are given by the following statements: * Coherent quantum physics is physics in terms of a coherent space consisting of a line bundle over a classical phase space and an appropriate coherent product. * The kinematical structure of quantum physics and the meaning of the fundamental quantum observables are given by the symmetries of this coherent space, their infinitesimal generators, and associated operators on the quantum …
Vienna today is one of the capitals for the research on foundations of quantum physics. In this paper we reconstruct the main historical steps of the development of modern physics in Vienna, with an emphasis on quantum foundations. We show that the two main intuitive reasons, namely the influence of E. Schrödinger and the initiatives of A. Zeilinger in more recent years, cannot alone be held accountable for today's outstanding research landscape on foundation of quantum mechanics in Vienna. We instead show that the connection between physics and philosophy in Vienna always had an exceptional s…
On the base of years of experience of working on the problem of the physical foundation of quantum mechanics the author offers principles of solving it. Under certain pressure of mathematical formalism there has raised a hypothesis of complexity of space and time by Minkovsky, being significant mainly for quantum objects. In this eight-dimensional space and time with six space and two time dimensions all the problems and peculiarities of quantum mechanical formalism disappear, the reasons of their appearance become clear, and there comes a clear and physically transparent picture of the founda…
The notion of quantum Turing machines is a basis of quantum complexity theory. We discuss a general model of multi-tape, multi-head Quantum Turing machines with multi final states that also allow tape heads to stay still.
In a series of recent papers, Hirota and Yuen claim to have identified a fundamental flaw in the theory underlying quantum cryptography, which would invalidate existing security proofs. In this short note, we sketch their argument and show that their conclusion is unjustified --- it originates from a confusion between necessary and sufficient criteria for secrecy.
This thesis develops the theory of effectuses as a categorical axiomatic approach to quantum theory. It provides a comprehensive introduction to effectus theory and reveals its connections with various other topics and approaches.
This paper gives a thorough critique of the foundations of quantum physics in its mainstream interpretation (i.e., treating pure states as primitives, without reference to hidden variables, and without modifications of the quantum laws). This is achieved by cleanly separating a concise version of the (universally accepted) formal core of quantum physics from the (controversial) interpretation issues. The latter are primarily related to measurement, but also to questions of existence and of the meaning of basic concepts like 'state' and 'particle'. The requirements for good foundations of quant…
In-principle restrictions on the amount of information that can be gathered about a system have been proposed as a foundational principle in several recent reconstructions of the formalism of quantum mechanics. However, it seems unclear precisely why one should be thus restricted. We investigate the notion of paradoxical self-reference as a possible origin of such epistemic horizons by means of a fixed-point theorem in Cartesian closed categories due to F. W. Lawvere that illuminates and unifies the different perspectives on self-reference.
After World War II, a hyper-pragmatic paradigm was established in physics in most of the western countries, within which foundations of quantum mechanics were vastly dismissed as pointless speculations. In this paper, we show that in Italy, however, the interest toward quantum foundations was revived at the turn of the 1960s, mainly thanks to the initiative of Franco Selleri, who started criticising the contents and the practice of modern physics (in the context of capitalistic society), and thought that the solution was to be sought in a rethinking of the foundations of the discipline. In 196…
Alain Aspect's three experiments on Bell's theorem, published in the early 1980s, were a turning point in the history of the research on the foundations of quantum mechanics not only because they corroborated entanglement as the distinctive quantum signature but also because these experiments brought wider recognition to this field of research and Aspect himself. These experiments may be considered the most direct precursors of the research on quantum information, which would blossom a decade later.
The education system for students in physics suffers (worldwide) from the absence of a deep course in probability and randomness. This is the real problem for students interested in quantum information theory, quantum optics, and quantum foundations. Here the primitive treatment of probability and randomness may lead to deep misunderstandings of theory and wrong interpretations of experimental results. Since during my visits (in 2013 and 2014) to IQOQI a number of students (experimenters!) asked me permanently about foundational problems of probability and randomness, especially inter-relation…
We show the Standard Model and SuperString Theories can be naturally based on a Quantum Computer foundation. The Standard Model of elementary particles can be viewed as defining a Quantum Computer Grammar and language. A Quantum Computer in a certain limit naturally forms a Superspace upon which Supersymmetry rotations can be defined - a Continuum Quantum Computer. Quantum high-level computer languages such as Quantum C and Quantum Assembly language are also discussed. In these new linguistic representations, particles become literally symbols or letters, and particle interactions become gramm…
In this paper, W*-algebras are presented as canonical colimits of diagrams of matrix algebras and completely positive maps. In other words, matrix algebras are dense in W*-algebras.
Even though quantum mechanics has existed for almost 100 years, questions concerning the foundation and interpretation of the theory still remain. These issues have gathered more attention in recent years, but does this mean that physicists are more aware of foundational issues concerning quantum mechanics? A survey was sent out to 1234 physicists affiliated to 8 different universities. 149 responded to the questions, which both concerned foundational issues related to quantum mechanics, specifically, as well as questions concerning interpretations of physical theories in general. The answers …
We present here our introduction to the contributed volume "Quantum Theory: Informational Foundations and Foils", Springer Netherlands (2016). It highlights recent trends in quantum foundations and offers an overview of the contributions appearing in the book.
Within quantum chemistry, the electron clouds that surround nuclei in atoms and molecules are sometimes treated as clouds of probability and sometimes as clouds of charge. These two roles, tracing back to Schrödinger and Born, are in tension with one another but are not incompatible. Schrödinger's idea that the nucleus of an atom is surrounded by a spread-out electron charge density is supported by a variety of evidence from quantum chemistry, including two methods that are used to determine atomic and molecular structure: the Hartree-Fock method and density functional theory. Taking this evid…
This is a sequel to the papers (quant-ph/9910063) and (quant-ph/0004102). The aim of this paper is to give mathematical foundations to Holonomic Quantum Computation (Computer) proposed by Zanardi and Rasetti (quant-ph/9904011) and Pachos and Chountasis (quant-ph/9912093). In 2-qubit case we give an explicit form to non-abelian Berry connection of quantum computational bundle which is associated with Holonomic Quantum Computation, on some parameter space. We also suggest a possibility that not only usual holonomy but also higher-dimensional holonomies must be used to prove a universality of our…
We discuss new approach to mathematical foundations of quantum theory, which is completely independent of Hilbert spaces and measure spaces. New kinematics is defined by non-linear geometry of spaces of integrals on abstract non-commutative algebras. New dynamics is defined by constrained maximisation of quantum relative entropy. We recover Hilbert space based approach (including unitary evolution and the von Neumann--Lüders rule) and measure theoretic approach to probability theory (including Bayes' rule) as special cases of our approach.
