Lee, CM;
Selby, JH;
(2018)
A no-go theorem for theories that decohere to quantum mechanics.
Proceedings of the Royal Society A - Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
, 474
(2214)
10.1098/rspa.2017.0732.
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Abstract
To date, there has been no experimental evidence that invalidates quantum theory. Yet it may only be an effective description of the world, in the same way that classical physics is an effective description of the quantum world. We ask whether there exists an operationally defined theory superseding quantum theory, but which reduces to it via a decoherence-like mechanism. We prove that no such post-quantum theory exists if it is demanded that it satisfy two natural physical principles: causality and purification. Causality formalizes the statement that information propagates from present to future, and purification that each state of incomplete information arises in an essentially unique way due to lack of information about an environment. Hence, our result can be viewed either as evidence that the fundamental theory of Nature is quantum or as showing in a rigorous manner that any post-quantum theory must abandon causality, purification or both.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | A no-go theorem for theories that decohere to quantum mechanics |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1098/rspa.2017.0732 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2017.0732 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Multidisciplinary Sciences, Science & Technology - Other Topics, decoherence, no-go theorem, quantum theory, generalized probabilistic theories, PROBABILISTIC THEORIES, MIXED STATES, PURE STATES, INTERFERENCE, INFORMATION, EVOLUTION |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10057388 |
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