Reconsidering no-go theorems from a practical perspective

DOI10.1093/BJPS/AXW038MaRDI QIDQ4555050zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Michael E. Cuffaro

Publication date 19 November 2018

Published in The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1509.07564

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

General and philosophical questions in quantum theory (81P05) Quantum measurement theory, state operations, state preparations (81P15) Quantum information, communication, networks (quantum-theoretic aspects) (81P45)

Abstract: I argue that our judgements regarding the locally causal models which are compatible with a given quantum no-go theorem implicitly depend, in part, on the context of inquiry. It follows from this that certain no-go theorems, which are particularly striking in the traditional foundational context, have no force when the context switches to a discussion of the physical systems we are capable of building with the aim of classically reproducing quantum statistics. I close with a general discussion of the possible implications of this for our understanding of the limits of classical description, and for our understanding of the fundamental aim of physical investigation.

Recommendations

• Against the `no-go' philosophy of quantum mechanics
• Classical representation of quantum means and quantum dynamics
• Contextuality, nonlocality and counterfactual arguments
• Contextuality under weak assumptions
• Bell's theorem from Moore's theorem

Cited in

(6)

• Against the `no-go' philosophy of quantum mechanics
• No-go theorems face background-based theories for quantum mechanics
• Classical representation of quantum means and quantum dynamics
• Universality, invariance, and the foundations of computational complexity in the light of the quantum computer
• Beating no-go theorems by engineering defects in quantum spin models
• Information causality, the Tsirelson bound, and the `being-thus' of things

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