Can different quantum state vectors correspond to the same physical state? An experimental test

Abstract

A century on from the development of quantum theory, the interpretation of a quantum state is still discussed. If a physicist claims to have produced a system with a particular wave function, does this represent directly a physical wave of some kind, or is the wave function merely a summary of knowledge, or information, about the system? A recent no-go theorem shows that models in which the wave function is not physical, but corresponds only to an experimenter's information about a hypothetical real state of the system, must make different predictions from quantum theory when a certain test is carried out. Here we report on an experimental implementation using trapped ions. Within experimental error, the results confirm quantum theory. We analyse which kinds of theories are ruled out.

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Cited by in corpus (12)

• Is the quantum state real? An extended review of $\psi$-ontology theorems
• Measurements on the reality of the wavefunction
• No $\psi$-epistemic model can fully explain the indistinguishability of quantum states
• No Return to Classical Reality
• No-go theorems for ψ-epistemic models based on a continuity assumption
• Realism-information complementarity in photonic weak measurements
• How Real are Quantum States in $\psi$-ontic Models?
• Visualizing the emission of a single photon with frequency and time resolved spectroscopy
• Information versus Physicality: On the Nature of the Wavefunctions of Quantum Mechanics
• Underlying non-Hermitian character of the Born rule in open quantum systems
• Reality, Causality, and Quantum Theory
• $\psi$-Epistemic Models, Einsteinian Intuitions, and No-Gos. A Critical Study of Recent Developments on the Quantum State