Physics – Quantum Physics
Scientific paper
2001-07-30
Physics
Quantum Physics
To appear in "Quantum (Un)speakables: Essays in Commemoration of John S. Bell", eds. Reinhold Bertlmann and Anton Zeilinger, S
Scientific paper
Sir Rudolph Peierls, in a reply to John Bell's last critique of the state of our understanding of quantum mechanics, maintained that it is easy to give an acceptable account of the physical significance of the quantum theory. The key is to recognize that all the density matrix characterizing a physical system ever represents is knowledge about that system. In answer to Bell's implicit rejoinder "Whose knowledge?" Peierls offered two simple consistency conditions that must be satisfied by density matrices that convey the knowledge different people might have about one and the same physical system: their density matrices must commute and must have a non-zero product. I describe a simple counterexample to his first condition, but show that his second condition, which holds trivially if the first does, continues to be valid in its absence. It is an open question whether any other conditions must be imposed.
No associations
LandOfFree
Whose Knowledge? does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Whose Knowledge?, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Whose Knowledge? will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-447885