On the structure of quantal proposition systems

Foundations of Physics 24 (9):1261-1279 (1994)
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Abstract

I define sublaltices of quantum propositions that can be taken as having determinate (but perhaps unknown) truth values for a given quantum state, in the sense that sufficiently many two-valued maps satisfying a Boolean homomorphism condition exist on each determinate sublattice to generate a Kolmogorov probability space for the probabilities defined by the slate. I show that these sublattices are maximal, subject to certain constraints, from which it follows easily that they are unique. I discuss the relevance of this result for the measurement problem, relating it to an early proposal by Jauch and Piron for defining a new notion of state for quantum systems, to a recent uniqueness proof by Clifton for the sublattice of propositions specified as determinate by modal interpretations of quantum mechanics that exploit the polar decompostion theorem, and to my own previous suggestions for interpreting quantum mechanics without the projection postulate

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Jeffrey Bub
University of Maryland, College Park

Citations of this work

Modal Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics.Olimpia Lombardi & Dennis Dieks - forthcoming - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
A modal-Hamiltonian interpretation of quantum mechanics.Olimpia Lombardi & Mario Castagnino - 2008 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 39 (2):380-443.
A modal-Hamiltonian interpretation of quantum mechanics.Olimpia Lombardi & Mario Castagnino - 2008 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 39 (2):380-443.
Modal interpretations, decoherence and measurements.Guido Bacciagaluppi & Meir Hemmo - 1996 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 27 (3):239-277.
Modal interpretations, decoherence and measurements.Guido Bacciagaluppi & Meir Hemmo - 1996 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 27 (3):239-277.

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