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289Properties of QBist State SpacesFoundations of Physics 41 (3): 564-579. 2011.Every quantum state can be represented as a probability distribution over the outcomes of an informationally complete measurement. But not all probability distributions correspond to quantum states. Quantum state space may thus be thought of as a restricted subset of all potentially available probabilities. A recent publication (Fuchs and Schack, arXiv:0906.2187v1, 2009) advocates such a representation using symmetric informationally complete (SIC) measurements. Building upon this work we study …Read more
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45Generic Bohmian Trajectories of an Isolated ParticleFoundations of Physics 29 (12): 1863-1883. 1999.The generic Bohmian trajectories are calculated for an isolated particle in an approximate energy eigenstate, for an arbitrary one-dimensional potential well. It is shown that the necessary and sufficient condition for there to be a negligible probability of the trajectory deviating significantly from the classical trajectory at any stage in the motion is that the state be a narrowly localised wave packet. The properties of the Bohmian trajectories are compared with those in the interpretation r…Read more
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41Bohmian Trajectories Post-DecoherenceFoundations of Physics 29 (12): 1885-1916. 1999.The role of the environment in producing the correct classical limit in the Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics is investigated, in the context of a model of quantum Brownian motion. One of the effects of the interaction is to produce a rapid approximate diagonalisation of the reduced density matrix in the position representation. This effect is, by itself, insufficient to produce generically quasi-classical behaviour of the Bohmian trajectory. However, it is shown that, if the system parti…Read more
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96The Bell–Kochen–Specker theoremStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 36 (1): 1-28. 2005.Meyer, Kent and Clifton (MKC) claim to have nullified the Bell-Kochen-Specker (Bell-KS) theorem. It is true that they invalidate KS's account of the theorem's physical implications. However, they do not invalidate Bell's point, that quantum mechanics is inconsistent with the classical assumption, that a measurement tells us about a property previously possessed by the system. This failure of classical ideas about measurement is, perhaps, the single most important implication of quantu…Read more
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107Facts, Values and QuantaFoundations of Physics 35 (4): 627-668. 2005.Quantum mechanics is a fundamentally probabilistic theory (at least so far as the empirical predictions are concerned). It follows that, if one wants to properly understand quantum mechanics, it is essential to clearly understand the meaning of probability statements. The interpretation of probability has excited nearly as much philosophical controversy as the interpretation of quantum mechanics. 20th century physicists have mostly adopted a frequentist conception. In this paper it is argued tha…Read more
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University of SydneyResearcher
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia