arXiv subjects

Jacques L. Pienaar

Publications and source records attributed to Jacques L. Pienaar.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

French on London and Bauer, and QBism

In this article I compare two interpretations of quantum mechanics (QM) that draw inspiration from phenomenology: the London-Bauer-French interpretation (hereafter LBF) as articulated by Steven French, and QBism. I give special attention to certain disagreements between QBism and LBF identified French's work, as well as French's related claims that QBism may be at odds with key ideas in phenomenology. My main finding is that QBism does not fare so badly with phenomenology as French makes out; in particular it can be made compatible with Zahavi's correlationism and Husserl's notion of intersubjectivity, both of which strongly inform LBF. Nevertheless, I concur with French's argument that QBism is incompatible with the conception of quantum measurement in LBF, hence also with that of Merleau-Ponty, as the latter based his own analysis on that of London and Bauer. I explain why I find QBism's account preferable in this case.

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arXiv2024

A single space-time is too small for all of Wigner's friends

Recent no-go theorems on interpretations of quantum theory featuring an assumption of `Absoluteness of Observed Events' (AOE) are shown to have an unexpectedly strong corollary: one cannot reject AOE and at the same time assume that the `observed events' in question can all be embedded within a single background space-time common to all observers. Consequently, interpretations that reject AOE appear incompatible with a `block universe' view of space-time.

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arXiv2024

Synthesizing the Born rule with reinforcement learning

According to the subjective Bayesian interpretation of quantum theory (QBism), quantum mechanics is a tool that an agent would be wise to use when making bets about natural phenomena. In particular, the Born rule is understood to be a decision-making norm, an ideal which one should strive to meet even if usually falling short in practice. What is required for an agent to make decisions that conform to quantum mechanics? Here we investigate how a realistic (hence non-ideal) agent might deviate from the Born rule in its decisions. To do so we simulate a simple agent as a reinforcement-learning algorithm that makes `bets' on the outputs of a symmetric informationally-complete measurement (SIC) and adjusts its decisions in order to maximize its expected return. We quantify how far the algorithm's decision-making behavior departs from the ideal form of the Born rule and investigate the limiting factors. We propose an experimental implementation of the scenario using heralded single photons.

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arXiv2023

Quantum dynamics is linear because quantum states are epistemic

According to quantum theory, a scientist in a sealed laboratory cannot tell whether they are inside a superposition or not. Consequently, so long as they remain isolated, they can assume without inconsistency that their measurements result in definite outcomes. We elevate this to the status of a general principle, which we call Local Definiteness. We apply this principle in the context of modifications of quantum theory that allow the dynamics to be non-linear. We prove that any such theory satisfies Local Definiteness if and only if its dynamics is linear. We further note that any interpretation that takes quantum states to be epistemic necessarily satisfies the principle, whereas interpretations that take quantum states to be ontic do not satisfy it, unless they make additional assumptions that amount to presupposing linearity of the dynamics. Therefore the reason why experiments to date have not found evidence of non-linear dynamics might simply be that quantum states are epistemic.

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arXiv2022

Born's rule as a quantum extension of Bayesian coherence

The subjective Bayesian interpretation of probability asserts that the rules of the probability calculus follow from the normative principle of Dutch-book coherence: A decision-making agent should not assign probabilities such that a series of monetary transactions based on those probabilities would lead them to expect a sure loss. Similarly, the subjective Bayesian interpretation of quantum mechanics (QBism) asserts that the Born rule is a normative rule in analogy to Dutch-book coherence, but with the addition of one or more empirically based assumptions -- i.e., the "only a little more" that connects quantum theory to the particular characteristics of the physical world. Here we make this link explicit for a conjectured representation of the Born rule which holds true if symmetric informationally complete POVMs (or SICs) exist for every finite dimensional Hilbert space. We prove that an agent who thinks they are gambling on the outcomes of measurements on a sufficiently quantum-like system, but refuses to use this form of the Born rule when placing their bets is vulnerable to a Dutch book. The key property for being sufficiently quantum-like is that the system admits a symmetric reference measurement, but that this measurement is not sampling any hidden variables.

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arXiv2021

Unobservable entities in QBism and phenomenology

The interpretation of quantum theory known as QBism argues that many elements of the formalism have a subjective interpretation. At the same time, QBism claims to be a broadly realist program. This implies that reality in QBism must be somehow founded upon an agent's subjective experiences (measurement outcomes). To make this idea more precise, we propose to interpret QBism's "experiences" as synonymous with the concept of "perceived phenomena" in phenomenology. This suggests an approach to ontology in which objects can only be physically real if they are in principle observable. But what does "observable" mean? Are atoms, electromagnetic fields, quantum states, or probabilities observable? Here we discuss the different answers to this question given by QBists and phenomenologists, and attempt to reconcile them.

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arXiv2021

A quintet of quandaries: five no-go theorems for Relational Quantum Mechanics

Relational quantum mechanics (RQM) proposes an ontology of relations between physical systems, where any system can serve as an `observer' and any physical interaction between systems counts as a `measurement'. Quantities take unique values spontaneously in these interactions, and the occurrence of such `quantum events' is strictly relative to the observing system, making them `relative facts'. The quantum state represents the objective information that one system has about another by virtue of correlations between their physical variables. The ontology of RQM thereby strives to uphold the universality and completeness of quantum theory, while at the same time maintaining that the actualization of each unique quantum event is a fundamental physical event. Can RQM sustain this precarious balancing act? Here we present five no-go theorems that imply it cannot; something has to give way.

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arXiv2021

QBism and Relational Quantum Mechanics compared

The subjective Bayesian interpretation of quantum mechanics (QBism) and Rovelli's relational interpretation of quantum mechanics (RQM) are both notable for embracing the radical idea that measurement outcomes correspond to events whose occurrence (or not) is relative to an observer. Here we provide a detailed study of their similarities and especially their differences.

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arXiv2012

The preparation problem in nonlinear extensions of quantum theory

Nonlinear modifications to the laws of quantum mechanics have been proposed as a possible way to consistently describe information processing in the presence of closed timelike curves. These have recently generated controversy due to possible exotic information-theoretic effects, including breaking quantum cryptography and radically speeding up both classical and quantum computers. The physical interpretation of such theories, however, is still unclear. We consider a large class of operationally-defined theories that contain "nonlinear boxes" and show that operational verifiability without superluminal signaling implies a split in the equivalence classes of preparation procedures. We conclude that any theory satisfying the above requirements is (a) inconsistent unless it contains distinct representations for the two different kinds of preparations and (b) incomplete unless it also contains a rule for uniquely distinguishing them at the operational level. We refer to this as the preparation problem for nonlinear theories. In addition to its foundational implications, this work shows that, in the presence of nonlinear quantum evolution, the security of quantum cryptography and the existence of other exotic effects remain open questions.

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