Quantum Darwinism requires an extra-theoretical assumption of encoding redundancy

Abstract

Observers restricted to the observation of pointer states of apparatus cannot conclusively demonstrate that the pointer of an apparatus A registers the state of a system of interest S without perturbing S. Observers cannot, therefore, conclusively demonstrate that the states of a system S are redundantly encoded by pointer states of multiple independent apparatus without destroying the redundancy of encoding. The redundancy of encoding required by quantum Darwinism must, therefore, be assumed from outside the quantum-mechanical formalism and without the possibility of experimental demonstration.

5 pages, 1 figure. Comments on foundational assumptions of W. Zurek (2009) Nat Phys 5 181 (arXiv 0903.5082). v2 significant revision to improve clarity

References in corpus (4)

• Decoherence, einselection, and the quantum origins of the classical
• The importance of quantum decoherence in brain processes
• Quantum Darwinism
• Quantum Darwinism in a hazy environment

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