Bell nonlocality, signal locality and unpredictability (or what Bohr could have told Einstein at Solvay had he known about Bell experiments)

DOI10.1007/S10701-012-9669-1zbMATH Open1262.81014arXiv0911.2504OpenAlexW3102974511WikidataQ62596628 ScholiaQ62596628MaRDI QIDQ1929318FDOQ1929318

Authors: Eric G. Cavalcanti, H. M. Wiseman 

Publication date: 7 January 2013

Published in: Foundations of Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: The 1964 theorem of John Bell shows that no model that reproduces the predictions of quantum mechanics can simultaneously satisfy the assumptions of locality and determinism. On the other hand, the assumptions of emph{signal locality} plus emph{predictability} are also sufficient to derive Bell inequalities. This simple theorem, previously noted but published only relatively recently by Masanes, Acin and Gisin, has fundamental implications not entirely appreciated. Firstly, nothing can be concluded about the ontological assumptions of locality or determinism independently of each other -- it is possible to reproduce quantum mechanics with deterministic models that violate locality as well as indeterministic models that satisfy locality. On the other hand, the operational assumption of signal locality is an empirically testable (and well-tested) consequence of relativity. Thus Bell inequality violations imply that we can trust that some events are fundamentally emph{unpredictable}, even if we cannot trust that they are indeterministic. This result grounds the quantum-mechanical prohibition of arbitrarily accurate predictions on the assumption of no superluminal signalling, regardless of any postulates of quantum mechanics. It also sheds a new light on an early stage of the historical debate between Einstein and Bohr.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/0911.2504

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zbMATH Keywords

uncertaintyBell inequalitiesdeterminismquantum foundationslocalityrandomnessunpredictabilityno-signallingsignal locality

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

History of mathematics in the 20th century (01A60) General and philosophical questions in quantum theory (81P05) Quantum measurement theory, state operations, state preparations (81P15) Quantum coherence, entanglement, quantum correlations (81P40) History of quantum theory (81-03)

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Cited In (12)

• Device-independent randomness certification using multiple copies of entangled states
• Quantum reaxiomatisations and information-theoretic interpretations of quantum theory
• Some Personal Reflections on Quantum Nonlocality and the Contributions of John Bell
• Bell's theorem and the issue of determinism and indeterminism
• On the meaning of locality: the overlapping assumptions
• Temporal correlations and device-independent randomness
• Quantum discord is Bohr's notion of non-mechanical disturbance introduced to counter the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen argument
• Nonlocal quantum information transfer without superluminal signalling and communication
• The essence of nonclassicality: non-vanishing signal deficit
• A testable prediction of the no-signalling condition using a variant of the EPR-Bohm example
• Randomness? What randomness?
• Several foundational and information theoretic implications of Bell's theorem

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