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Topos Theory and Consistent Histories: The Internal Logic of the Set of all Consistent Sets

C. J. Isham
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Abstract

A major problem in the consistent-histories approach to quantum theory is contending with the potentially large number of consistent sets of history propositions. One possibility is to find a scheme in which a unique set is selected in some way. However, in this paper we consider the alternative approach in which all consistent sets are kept, leading to a type of `many world-views' picture of the quantum theory. It is shown that a natural way of handling this situation is to employ the theory of varying sets (presheafs) on the space $\B$ of all Boolean subalgebras of the orthoalgebra $\UP$ of history propositions. This approach automatically includes the feature whereby probabilistic predictions are meaningful only in the context of a consistent set of history propositions. More strikingly, it leads to a picture in which the `truth values', or `semantic values' of such contextual predictions are not just two-valued (\ie true and false) but instead lie in a larger logical algebra---a Heyting algebra---whose structure is determined by the space $\B$ of Boolean subalgebras of $\UP$.

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C. J. Isham. 1996-07-28. Topos Theory and Consistent Histories: The Internal Logic of the Set of all Consistent Sets. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02435786

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