Comment on ``Consistent Sets Yield Contrary Inferences in Quantum Theory''

Recent work with Dowker on the scientific status of the consistent histories approach to quantum theory is reviewed and summarised. The approach is compared with formulations of quantum theory, such as Bohmian mechanics and the Copenhagen interpretation a la Landau-Lifshitz, in which classical variables are explicitly appended. I try to explain why the consistent histories formulation is scientifically problematic, in that it is a very weak theory, but also scientifically int...

Topos theory has been suggested by Doring and Isham as an alternative mathematical structure with which to formulate physical theories. In particular it has been used to reformulate standard quantum mechanics in such a way that a novel type of logic is used to represent propositions. In this paper we extend this formulation to include temporally-ordered collections of propositions as opposed to single-time propositions. That is to say, we have developed a quantum history form...

This dissertation investigates questions arising in the consistent histories formulation of the quantum mechanics of closed systems. Various criteria for approximate consistency are analysed. The connection between the Dowker-Halliwell criterion and sphere packing problems is shown and used to prove several new bounds on the violation of probability sum rules. The quantum Zeno effect is also analysed within the consistent histories formalism and used to demonstrate some of th...

This paper presents an alternative approach to quantum entanglement, one that effectively resolves the logical inconsistencies without leading to logical contradictions. By addressing some of the inconsistencies within quantum mechanics, such as state superposition and non-locality, that challenge classical causal explanations, our method is constructed on the principles of paraconsistent logic. Our aim is to develop a para-consistent framework that supports the features of q...

This paper presents an elementary introduction to Consistent Quantum Theory (CQT), as developed by Griffiths and others over the past 25 years. The theory is a version of orthodox(Copenhagen) quantum mechanics, based on the notion that the unique and mysterious feature of quantum, as opposed to classical, systems is the simultaneous existence of multiple incompatible representations of reality, referred to as "frameworks". A framework is a maximal set of properties of a syste...

This paper describes an algorithm for selecting a consistent set within the consistent histories approach to quantum mechanics and investigates its properties. The algorithm uses a maximum information principle to select from among the consistent sets formed by projections defined by the Schmidt decomposition. The algorithm unconditionally predicts the possible events in closed quantum systems and ascribes probabilities to these events. A simple spin model is described and a ...

Quantum mechanics, devoid of any additional assumption, does not give any theoretical constraint on the projection basis to be used for the measurement process. It is shown in this paper that it does neither allow any physical means for an experimenter to determine which measurement bases have been used by another experimenter. As a consequence, quantum mechanics allows a situation in which two experimenters witness incoherent stories without being able to detect such incoher...

We describe some properties of consistent sets of histories in the Gell-Mann--Hartle formalism, and give an example to illustrate that one cannot recover the standard predictions, retrodictions and inferences of quasiclassical physics using the criterion of consistency alone.

We critically evaluate the treatment of the notion of measurement in the Consistent Histories approach to quantum mechanics. We find such a treatment unsatisfactory because it relies, often implicitly, on elements external to those provided by the formalism. In particular, we note that, in order for the formalism to be informative when dealing with measurement scenarios, one needs to assume that the appropriate choice of framework is such that apparatuses are always in states...

We illustrate two simple spin examples which show that in the consistent histories approach to quantum mechanics one can retrodict with certainty incompatible or contradictory propositions corresponding to non-orthogonal or, respectively, orthogonal projections. V.2 vs. V1: The example previously quoted as "d'Espagnat's example" is now properly quoted as "Griffiths' example". A reference to a previous work by Aharonov and Vaidman is added.