Non-separability does not relieve the problem of Bell's theorem

DOI10.1007/S10701-013-9730-8zbMATH Open1273.81037arXiv1302.7188OpenAlexW3104014111MaRDI QIDQ368076FDOQ368076

Authors: Joe Henson 

Publication date: 18 September 2013

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

Abstract: This paper addresses arguments that "separability" is an assumption of Bell's theorem, and that abandoning this assumption in our interpretation of quantum mechanics (a position sometimes referred to as "holism") will allow us to restore a satisfying locality principle. Separability here means that all events associated to the union of some set of disjoint regions are combinations of events associated to each region taken separately. In this article, it is shown that: (a) localised events can be consistently defined without implying separability; (b) the definition of Bell's locality condition does not rely on separability in any way; (c) the proof of Bell's theorem does not use separability as an assumption. If, inspired by considerations of non-separability, the assumptions of Bell's theorem are weakened, what remains no longer embodies the locality principle. Teller's argument for "relational holism" and Howard's arguments concerning separability are criticised in the light of these results. Howard's claim that Einstein grounded his arguments on the incompleteness of QM with a separability assumption is also challenged. Instead, Einstein is better interpreted as referring merely to the existence of localised events. Finally, it is argued that Bell rejected the idea that separability is an assumption of his theorem.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1302.7188

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zbMATH Keywords

Bell's theoremnon-localityseparabilityholism

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

General and philosophical questions in quantum theory (81P05) Quantum measurement theory, state operations, state preparations (81P15) Quantum coherence, entanglement, quantum correlations (81P40)

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Cited In (13)

• A separable, dynamically local ontological model of quantum mechanics
• On the Separability of Physical Systems
• On the relation between the probabilistic characterization of the common cause and Bell's notion of local causality
• Bell s theorem and chemical potential
• Some remarks on the notion of separability within the creation discovery view
• On the meaning of locality: the overlapping assumptions
• Relating Bell's local causality to the causal Markov condition
• A histories perspective on characterizing quantum non-locality
• Separating Einstein's separability
• A pragmatist view of the metaphysics of entanglement
• Quantum entanglement: a hylomorphic account
• On the concept of Bell’s local causality in local classical and quantum theory
• A generalized definition of Bell's local causality

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