When will Two Agents Agree on a Quantum Measurement Outcome? Intersubjective Agreement in QBism

In the QBist approach to quantum mechanics, a measurement is an action an agent takes on the world external to herself. A measurement device is an extension of the agent and both measurement outcomes and their probabilities are personal to the agent. According to QBism, nothing in the quantum formalism implies that the quantum state assignments of two agents or their respective measurement outcomes need to be mutually consistent. Recently, Khrennikov has claimed that QBism's personalist theory of quantum measurement is invalidated by Ozawa's so-called intersubjectivity theorem. Here, following Stacey, we refute Khrennikov's claim by showing that it is not Ozawa's mathematical theorem but an additional assumption made by Khrennikov that QBism is incompatible with. We then address the question of intersubjective agreement in QBism more generally. Even though there is never a necessity for two agents to agree on their respective measurement outcomes, a QBist agent can strive to create conditions under which she would expect another agent's reported measurement outcome to agree with hers. It turns out that the assumptions of Ozawa's theorem provide an example for just such a condition.

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Publication Details

Journal
International Journal of Theoretical Physics
Published
2024-10-05
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10773-024-05790-w
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Quantum Mechanics and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.01

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article

When will Two Agents Agree on a Quantum Measurement Outcome? Intersubjective Agreement in QBism

Rüdiger Schack
3 citations
International Journal of Theoretical Physics
Quantum Mechanics and Applications
1.01
article

When will Two Agents Agree on a Quantum Measurement Outcome? Intersubjective Agreement in QBism

Rüdiger Schack
article en
3 citations

Abstract

In the QBist approach to quantum mechanics, a measurement is an action an agent takes on the world external to herself. A measurement device is an extension of the agent and both measurement outcomes and their probabilities are personal to the agent. According to QBism, nothing in the quantum formalism implies that the quantum state assignments of two agents or their respective measurement outcomes need to be mutually consistent. Recently, Khrennikov has claimed that QBism's personalist theory of quantum measurement is invalidated by Ozawa's so-called intersubjectivity theorem. Here, following Stacey, we refute Khrennikov's claim by showing that it is not Ozawa's mathematical theorem but an additional assumption made by Khrennikov that QBism is incompatible with. We then address the question of intersubjective agreement in QBism more generally. Even though there is never a necessity for two agents to agree on their respective measurement outcomes, a QBist agent can strive to create conditions under which she would expect another agent's reported measurement outcome to agree with hers. It turns out that the assumptions of Ozawa's theorem provide an example for just such a condition.

International Journal of Theoretical PhysicsVol. 63(10)
Royal Holloway University of London (GB)
John Templeton Foundation
Openalex Percentile: Top 24%
Quantum Mechanics and Applications
1.01
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