On the Reality of the Quantum State Once Again: A No-Go Theorem for ψ-Ontic Models

In this paper we show that ψ -ontic models, as defined by Harrigan and Spekkens (HS), cannot reproduce quantum theory. Instead of focusing on probability, we use information theoretic considerations to show that all pure states of ψ -ontic models must be orthogonal to each other, in clear violation...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Foundations of physics 2024-02, Vol.54 (1), Article 14
Main Authors: Carcassi, Gabriele, Oldofredi, Andrea, Aidala, Christine A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Classical and Quantum Gravitation
Classical Mechanics
Classification
History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics
Information theory
Philosophy of Science
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Quantum mechanics
Quantum Physics
Quantum theory
Relativity Theory
Statistical Physics and Dynamical Systems
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Summary:In this paper we show that ψ -ontic models, as defined by Harrigan and Spekkens (HS), cannot reproduce quantum theory. Instead of focusing on probability, we use information theoretic considerations to show that all pure states of ψ -ontic models must be orthogonal to each other, in clear violation of quantum mechanics. Given that (i) Pusey, Barrett and Rudolph (PBR) previously showed that ψ -epistemic models, as defined by HS, also contradict quantum mechanics, and (ii) the HS categorization is exhausted by these two types of models, we conclude that the HS categorization itself is problematic as it leaves no space for models that can reproduce quantum theory.
ISSN:0015-9018
1572-9516
DOI:10.1007/s10701-023-00748-0