On the Reality of the Wavefunction

Abstract

Within the Ontological Models Framework (OMF), Pusey, Barrett, and Rudolph (PBR) have given an argument by which they claimed that the epistemic view on the wavefunction should be ruled out. This study highlights an incorrect conclusion in PBR's arguments, which was made due to inadequacies in the definitions of OMF. To be precise, OMF models the ontology of the preparation procedure, but it does not model the ontology of the measurement device. Such an asymmetric treatment becomes problematic, in scenarios in which measurement devices have a quantum nature. Modifying the OMF's definition such that the ontology of the measurement device becomes included, we will see how PBR's result disappears.

arXiv comment20 pages, 6 figures

References in corpus (5)

• On the reality of the quantum state
• Is the quantum state real? An extended review of $\psi$-ontology theorems
• No-go theorem for the composition of quantum systems
• Generalisations of the recent Pusey-Barrett-Rudolph theorem for statistical models of quantum phenomena
• The whole is greater than the sum of the parts: on the possibility of purely statistical interpretations of quantum theory