paper

Can quantum mechanics be considered consistent? a discussion of Frauchinger and Renner's argument

arXiv:1802.06396

Abstract

We discuss the argument proposed in Ref.~\cite{Frauchiger-Renner}, and show that it does not particularly illustrate any inconsistency in quantum mechanics, but rather the well known difficulty often described as the \textquotedblleft shifty split\textquotedblright: the exact point at which the von Neumann reduction postulate should be applied is ill defined. This is the origin of the famous Schrödinger's cat or Wigner's friend paradoxes. We investigate the argument of Ref.~\cite{Frauchiger-Renner} and show that it combines statements obtained by different agents assuming very different positions of the shifty split, and therefore applying the reduction postulate in different ways. This results in the introduction of several different state vectors, while such descriptions are considered as incompatible in standard quantum mechanics. To our knowledge, no interpretation of quantum mechanics includes this possibility; the argument thus refers to a new form of quantum mechanics that should be specified more precisely.

An appendix added (GRW and dBB theory); minor changes in the text

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