Relational quantum entanglement beyond non-separable and contextual relativism

• Published in: Studies in history and philosophy of science. Part A 2023-02, Vol.97, p.68-78
• Main Authors: de Ronde, Christian, Massri, César
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Brachytherapy; Contextuality; Entanglement; Generalization, Psychological; Objectivity; Relationalism; Relativism; Separability
• ISSN: 0039-3681; 1879-2510
• DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsa.2022.11.005

In this paper we address the relativist-perspectival nature of the orthodox definition of quantum entanglement in terms of preferred factorizations. We also consider this aspect within the generalized definition of entanglement proposed by Barnum et al. (Barnum et al., 2003, 2004) in terms of preferred observables. More specifically, we will discuss the non-separable relativism implied by the orthodox definition of entanglement, the contextual relativism implied by its generalization as well as some other serious problems presently discussed within the specialized literature. In the second part of this work, we address a recently proposed objective-invariant definition of entanglement understood as the actual and potential coding of effective and intensive relations (de Ronde & Massri, 2021). Through the derivation of two theorems we will show explicitly how this new objective definition of entanglement is able to escape both non-separable and contextual relativisms. According to these theorems, within this proposed relational definition, all possible subsets of observables as well as all possible factorizations can be globally considered as making reference to the same (potential) state of affairs. The conclusion is that, unlike with the orthodox definitions, this new objective-relational notion of entanglement is able to bypass relativism right from the start opening the door to a realist understanding of quantum correlations.