Decision theory and information propagation in quantum physics

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dc.creatorForrester, Alan
dc.date2006-04-18
dc.date2007-04-25
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T10:19:51Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T10:19:51Z
dc.descriptionIn recent papers, Zurek has objected to the decision-theoretic approach of Deutsch and Wallace to deriving the Born rule for quantum probabilities on the grounds that it courts circularity. Deutsch and Wallace assume that the many worlds theory is true and that decoherence gives rise to a preferred basis. However, decoherence arguments use the reduced density matrix, which relies upon the partial trace and hence upon the Born Rule for its validity. Using the Heisenberg Picture and quantum Darwinism - the notion that classical information is quantum information that can proliferate in the environment pioneered by Olliver et al - I show that measurement interactions between two systems only create correlations between a specific set of commuting observables of system 1 and a specific set of commuting observables of system 2. This argument picks out a unique basis in which information flows in the correlations between those sets of commuting observables. I then derive the Born rule for both pure and mixed states and answer some other criticisms of the decision theoretic approach to quantum probability.
dc.descriptionminor corrections, to appear in Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 35 pages
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0604133
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0604133
dc.identifierStudies In History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies In History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, Vol, 38, No. 4, Dec 2007, 815-831
dc.identifierdoi:10.1016/j.shpsb.2007.02.004
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/174663
dc.subjectQuantum Physics
dc.subjectHistory and Philosophy of Physics
dc.titleDecision theory and information propagation in quantum physics
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