Biographical Irreducibility in Quantum Mechanics: Path Inequivalence Beyond State Equivalence

I demonstrate that quantum systems implementing the same unitary operation and sharing identical final states can nonetheless exhibit measurably distinct behavior under environmental decoherence. This arises when the underlying dynamical trajectories—the "biographies" of the processes—differ geometrically in state space even though the endpoints coincide. I construct explicit "quantum twins" that satisfy: (1) same unitary, (2) same final state, (3) distinct trajectories, and (4) decoherence-dependent divergence. Through mathematical analysis, Bloch-sphere geometry, and multiple physical noise models, I show that biographical information is physically relevant and irreducible to instantaneous state descriptions.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2026-06-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20857554
Primary Topic
Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
Type
preprint
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preprint

Biographical Irreducibility in Quantum Mechanics: Path Inequivalence Beyond State Equivalence

Anderson Costa Rodrigues
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
preprint

Biographical Irreducibility in Quantum Mechanics: Path Inequivalence Beyond State Equivalence

Anderson Costa Rodrigues
preprint en

Abstract

I demonstrate that quantum systems implementing the same unitary operation and sharing identical final states can nonetheless exhibit measurably distinct behavior under environmental decoherence. This arises when the underlying dynamical trajectories—the "biographies" of the processes—differ geometrically in state space even though the endpoints coincide. I construct explicit "quantum twins" that satisfy: (1) same unitary, (2) same final state, (3) distinct trajectories, and (4) decoherence-dependent divergence. Through mathematical analysis, Bloch-sphere geometry, and multiple physical noise models, I show that biographical information is physically relevant and irreducible to instantaneous state descriptions.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
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