On Extended Wigner's Friend Scenarios

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Wiseman, Howard M

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Cavalcanti, Eric G

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2022-04-01
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Abstract

The Wigner’s friend thought experiment involves two observers, a “superobserver” and a “friend”. The friend makes a measurement on a quantum system, and then the superobserver makes a measurement on the friend’s isolated laboratory, including the friend, provided that the superobserver has coherent quantum control of such a complex system. This can lead to an apparent contradiction where the superobserver claims the friend is in a superposition state, while the friend says they see a definite outcome. Recent years have seen an increase of interest in the Wigner’s friend experiment, as no-go theorems consider, in their derivations, extended Wigner’s friend scenarios in setups similar to a Bell scenario. These theorems argue that quantum theory is incompatible with sets of assumptions different from a local hidden variable model. One such theorem, by C. Brukner, introduced an extended Wigner’s friend scenario that I, along with other authors, later used to derive a no-go theorem for “Local Friendliness”, a set of assumptions weaker than Local Determinism, as unlike the latter, it does not make the assumption of Predetermination. In this thesis, I study the implications of Local Friendliness in two different extended Wigner’s friend scenarios, the one originally presented by Brukner, and another where the superobserver can interact with their friend at one of several points in time. I prove that not only is it possible for quantum mechanics to violate Local Friendliness, but also that it is always possible to find a scenario such that a violation of Bell inequalities in that scenario will be a result of a violation of Local Friendliness.

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Thesis (PhD Doctorate)

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Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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School of Environment and Sc

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The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.

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Subject

superobserver

friend

quantum system

Wigner’s friend

Local Friendliness

quantum mechanics

violation

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