Restrictions for the Causal Inferences in an Interferometric System

Abstract

Causal discovery algorithms allow for the inference of causal structures from probabilistic relations of random variables. A natural field for the application of this tool is quantum mechanics, where a long-standing debate about the role of causality in the theory has flourished since its early days. In this paper, a causal discovery algorithm is applied in the search for causal models to describe a quantum version of Wheeler's delayed-choice experiment. The outputs explicitly show the restrictions for the introduction of classical concepts in this system. The exclusion of models with two hidden variables is one of them. A consequence of such a constraint is the impossibility to construct a causal model that avoids superluminal causation and assumes an objective view of the wave and particle properties simultaneously.

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• Quantum causal modelling
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Cited by in corpus (8)

• Causal modeling the delayed choice experiment
• Device independent certification of a quantum delayed choice experiment
• Realization of a causal-modeled delayed-choice experiment using single photons
• Quantum steering beyond instrumental causal networks
• Macroscopic delayed-choice and retrocausality: quantum eraser, Leggett-Garg and dimension witness tests with cat states
• Device-independent Verification of Quantum Coherence without Quantum Control
• Forward-backward stochastic simulations: Q-based model for measurement and Bell-nonlocality consistent with weak local realistic premises
• Causal Emergence in Quantum Mechanics