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The Partition Ensemble Fallacy Fallacy

Kae Nemoto·Samuel L. Braunstein
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Abstract

The Partition Ensemble Fallacy was recently applied to claim no quantum coherence exists in coherent states produced by lasers. We show that this claim relies on an untestable belief of a particular prior distribution of absolute phase. One's choice for the prior distribution for an unobservable quantity is a matter of `religion'. We call this principle the Partition Ensemble Fallacy Fallacy. Further, we show an alternative approach to construct a relative-quantity Hilbert subspace where unobservability of certain quantities is guaranteed by global conservation laws. This approach is applied to coherent states and constructs an approximate relative-phase Hilbert subspace.

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Kae Nemoto, Samuel L. Braunstein. 2002-07-23. The Partition Ensemble Fallacy Fallacy. https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0207135

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