Weekly Papers on Quantum Foundations (5)

 上午9:26 | Bao-Zhi Sun, hi-Xi Wang, Xianqing Li-Jost, Shao-Ming Fei | quant-ph updates on arXiv.org

The quantum measurement incompatibility is a distinctive feature of quantum mechanics. We investigate the incompatibility of a set of general measurements and classify the incompatibility by the hierarchy of compatibilities of its subsets. By using the approach of adding noises to measurement operators we present a complete classification of the incompatibility of a given measurement assemblage with $n$ members. Detailed examples are given to the incompatibility for unbiased qubit measurements based on semidefinite programm.

 上午9:26 | Richard D. Gill | quant-ph updates on arXiv.org

I point out the central error in the entertaining recent paper “Dr. Bertlmann’s Socks in the Quaternionic World of Ambidextral Reality” by Joy Christian, arXiv:1911.11578v6

 上午9:26 | Gerd Niestegge | quant-ph updates on arXiv.org

Various reconstructions of finite-dimensional quantum mechanics result in a formally real Jordan algebra A and a last step remains to conclude that A is the self-adjoint part of a C*-algebra. Using a quantum logical setting, it is shown that this can be achieved by postulating that there is a locally tomographic model for a composite system consisting of two copies of the same system. Local tomography is a feature of classical probability theory and quantum mechanics; it means that state tomography for a multipartite system can be performed by simultaneous measurements in all subsystems. The quantum logical definition of local tomography is sufficient, but not as strong as the prevalent definition in the literature and involves some subtleties concerning the so-called spin factors.

 上午9:26 | Pierre Uzan | quant-ph updates on arXiv.org

The idea that non-local correlations stronger than quantum correlations between two no-signaling systems could theoretically exist is based on an incorrect statistical interpretation of the no-signaling condition. This article shows that any physically realizable no-signaling box involving local incompatible observables indeed requires to be described in a non-commutative, quantum-like language of operators -which leads to the derivation of the Tsirelson bound and then contradicts this idea.

Authors: Raymond S. Mackintosh

The identification of `measurement’ in QM as a human action is a source of profound confusion. We propose an approach to the measurement problem based on a reconsideration of the nature of particles.

 上午9:26 | ScienceDirect Publication: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern PhysicsScienceDirect RSShttps://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/studies-in-history-and-philosophy-of-science-part-b-studies-in-history-and-philosophy-of-modern-physicsRSS for NodeWed, 24 Jul 2019 09:46:42 GMTCopyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reservedImprints of the underlying structure of physical theoriesPublication date: Available online 12 July 2019Source: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern PhysicsAuthor(s): Jorge ManeroAbstractIn the context of scientific realism, this paper intends to provide a formal and accurate description of the structural-based ontology posited by classical mechanics, quantum mechanics and special relativity, which is preserved across the empirical domains of these theories and explain their successful predictions. Along the lines of ontic structural realism, such a description is undertaken by

Publication date: Available online 1 February 2020

Source: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics

Author(s): Charles T. Sebens

Abstract

One way of arriving at a quantum field theory of electrons and positrons is to take a classical theory of the Dirac field and then quantize. Starting with the standard classical field theory and quantizing in the most straightforward way yields an inadequate quantum field theory. It is possible to fix this theory by making some modifications (such as redefining the operators for energy and charge). Here I argue that we ought to make these modifications earlier, revising the classical Dirac field theory that serves as the starting point for quantization (putting positrons into that theory and removing negative energies). Then, quantization becomes straightforward. Also, the physics of the Dirac field is made more similar to the physics of the electromagnetic field and we are able to better understand electron spin.

 上午9:26 | ScienceDirect Publication: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern PhysicsScienceDirect RSShttps://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/studies-in-history-and-philosophy-of-science-part-b-studies-in-history-and-philosophy-of-modern-physicsRSS for NodeWed, 24 Jul 2019 09:46:42 GMTCopyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reservedImprints of the underlying structure of physical theoriesPublication date: Available online 12 July 2019Source: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern PhysicsAuthor(s): Jorge ManeroAbstractIn the context of scientific realism, this paper intends to provide a formal and accurate description of the structural-based ontology posited by classical mechanics, quantum mechanics and special relativity, which is preserved across the empirical domains of these theories and explain their successful predictions. Along the lines of ontic structural realism, such a description is undertaken by

Publication date: Available online 29 January 2020

Source: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics

Author(s): Sebastian Fortin, Olimpia Lombardi

Authors: Rubén ArjonaSavvas Nesseris

Recent analyses of the Planck data and quasars at high redshifts have suggested possible deviations from the flat $\Lambda$ cold dark matter model ($\Lambda$CDM), where $\Lambda$ is the cosmological constant. Here, we use machine learning methods to investigate any possible deviations from $\Lambda$CDM at both low and high redshifts by using the latest cosmological data. Specifically, we apply the genetic algorithms to explore the nature of dark energy (DE) in a model independent fashion by reconstructing its equation of state $w(z)$, the growth index of matter density perturbations $\gamma(z)$, the linear DE anisotropic stress $\eta_{DE}(z)$ and the adiabatic sound speed $c_{s,DE}^2(z)$ of DE perturbations. We find a $\sim2\sigma$ deviation of $w(z)$ from -1 at high redshifts, the adiabatic sound speed is negative at the $\sim2\sigma$ level and a $\sim3\sigma$ deviation of the anisotropic stress from unity at low redshifts and $\sim3.5 \sigma$ at high redshifts. These results suggest either the presence of a strong non-adiabatic component in the DE sound speed or the presence of DE anisotropic stress, thus hinting at possible deviations from the $\Lambda$CDM model.

No experiment to date has provided evidence for quantum features of the gravitational interaction. Recently proposed tests suggest looking for the generation of quantum entanglement between massive objects as a possible route towards the observation of such features. Motivated by advances in optical cooling of mirrors, here we provide a systematic study of entanglement between two masses that are coupled gravitationally. We first consider the masses trapped at all times in harmonic potentials (optomechanics) and then the masses released from the traps. This leads to the estimate of the experimental parameters required for the observation of gravitationally induced entanglement. The optomechanical setup demands LIGO-like mirrors and squeezing or long coherence times, but the released masses can be light and accumulate detectable entanglement in a timescale shorter than their coherence times. No macroscopic quantum superposition develops during the evolution. We discuss the implications from such thought experiments regarding the nature of the gravitational coupling.

 上午6:40 | Philsci-Archive: No conditions. Results ordered -Date Deposited.
Icefield, William (2020) Conceptual truth versus empirical truth. [Preprint]
 2020年1月31日 星期五 下午5:48 | Philsci-Archive: No conditions. Results ordered -Date Deposited.
Juan Pablo, Jorge and Holik, Federico (2020) Non-deterministic semantics for quantum states. Entropy. ISSN 1099-4300
 2020年1月31日 星期五 下午5:46 | Philsci-Archive: No conditions. Results ordered -Date Deposited.
Henriksson, Andreas (2019) On the second law of thermodynamics. [Preprint]
 2020年1月30日 星期四 下午1:35 | Philsci-Archive: No conditions. Results ordered -Date Deposited.
Ritson, Sophie (2019) Probing novelty at the LHC: Heuristic appraisal of disruptive experimentation. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics. ISSN 13552198
 2020年1月30日 星期四 下午1:23 | Philsci-Archive: No conditions. Results ordered -Date Deposited.
Park, Seungbae (2020) Replies to Healey’s Comments Regarding van Fraassen’s Positions. Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective, 9 (1). pp. 38-47.
 2020年1月30日 星期四 下午1:14 | Philsci-Archive: No conditions. Results ordered -Date Deposited.
Chua, Eugene Y. S. (2019) Does Von Neumann’s Entropy Correspond to Thermodynamic Entropy? [Preprint]
 2020年1月30日 星期四 下午1:12 | Philsci-Archive: No conditions. Results ordered -Date Deposited.
Ruyant, Quentin (2020) Semantic Realism in the Semantic Conception of Theories. Synthese. ISSN 1573-0964
 2020年1月30日 星期四 上午8:00 | Latest Results for Foundations of Physics

Abstract

The meaning and truth conditions for claims about physical modality and causation have been considered problematic since Hume’s empiricist critique. But the underlying semantic commitments that follow from Hume’s empiricism about ideas have long been abandoned by the philosophical community. Once the consequences of that abandonment are properly appreciated, the problems of physical modality and causal locutions fall away, and can be painlessly solved.

 2020年1月29日 星期三 下午4:14 | Philsci-Archive: No conditions. Results ordered -Date Deposited.
Gueguen, Marie (2019) On Robustness in Cosmological Simulations. [Preprint]
 2020年1月29日 星期三 上午8:00 | Garnet Kin-Lic Chan | Nature Physics – Issue – nature.com science feeds

Nature Physics, Published online: 29 January 2020; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-0798-8

Publisher Correction: Determining eigenstates and thermal states on a quantum computer using quantum imaginary time evolution

Abstract

The proposal that probabilistic inference and unconscious hypothesis testing are central to information processing in the brain has been steadily gaining ground in cognitive neuroscience and associated fields. One popular version of this proposal is the new theoretical framework of predictive processing or prediction error minimization (PEM), which couples unconscious hypothesis testing with the idea of ‘active inference’ and claims to offer a unified account of perception and action. Here we will consider one outstanding issue that still looms large at the core of the PEM framework: the lack of a clear criterion for distinguishing conscious states from unconscious ones. In order to fulfill the promise of becoming a unifying framework for describing and modeling cognition, PEM needs to be able to differentiate between conscious and unconscious mental states or processes. We will argue that one currently popular view, that the contents of conscious experience are determined by the ‘winning hypothesis’ (i.e. the one with the highest posterior probability, which determines the behavior of the system), falls short of fully accounting for conscious experience. It ignores the possibility that some states of a system can control that system’s behavior even though they are apparently not conscious (as evidenced by e.g. blindsight or subliminal priming). What follows from this is that the ‘winning hypothesis’ view does not provide a complete account of the difference between conscious and unconscious states in the probabilistic brain. We show how this problem (and some other related problems) for the received view can be resolved by augmenting PEM with Daniel Dennett’s multiple drafts model of consciousness. This move is warranted by the similar roles that attention and internal competition play in both the PEM framework and the multiple drafts model.

 2020年1月28日 星期二 下午1:43 | Philsci-Archive: No conditions. Results ordered -Date Deposited.
Linnemann, Niels (2019) Interpreting GR as a guideline for theory change. [Preprint]
 2020年1月28日 星期二 上午8:00 | Latest Results for Foundations of Physics

Abstract

Applying the resolution–scale relativity principle to develop a mechanics of non-differentiable dynamical paths, we find that, in one dimension, stationary motion corresponds to an Itô process driven by the solutions of a Riccati equation. We verify that the corresponding Fokker–Planck equation is solved for a probability density corresponding to the squared modulus of the solution of the Schrödinger equation for the same problem. Inspired by the treatment of the one-dimensional case, we identify a generalization to time dependent problems in any number of dimensions. The Itô process is then driven by a function which is identified as establishing the link between non-differentiable dynamics and standard quantum mechanics. This is the basis for the scale relativistic interpretation of standard quantum mechanics and, in the case of applications to chaotic systems, it leads us to identify quantum-like states as characterizing the entire system rather than the motion of its individual constituents.

 2020年1月28日 星期二 上午8:00 | Latest Results for Foundations of Physics

Abstract

Leibniz Equivalence is a principle of applied mathematics that is widely assumed in both general relativity textbooks and in the philosophical literature on Einstein’s hole argument. In this article, I clarify an ambiguity in the statement of this Leibniz Equivalence, and argue that the relevant expression of it for the hole argument is strictly false. I then show that the hole argument still succeeds as a refutation of manifold substantivalism; however, recent proposals that the hole argument is undermined by principles of representational equivalence do not fare so well.

 2020年1月27日 星期一 下午6:00 | Izaak Neri | PRL: General Physics: Statistical and Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Information, etc.

Author(s): Izaak Neri

Events in mesoscopic systems often take place at first-passage times, as is for instance the case for a colloidal particle that escapes a metastable state. An interesting question is how much work an external agent has done on a particle when it escapes a metastable state. We develop a thermodynamic…

[Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 040601] Published Mon Jan 27, 2020

 2020年1月26日 星期日 下午3:12 | Philsci-Archive: No conditions. Results ordered -Date Deposited.
Gao, Shan (2020) Protective Measurements and the Reality of the Wave Function. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. ISSN 1464-3537