Reality, Causality, and Quantum Theory

Abstract

Quantum theory describes our universe incredibly successfully. To our classically-inclined brains, however, it is a bizarre description that requires a re-imagining of what fundamental reality, or "ontology", could look like. This thesis examines different ontological features in light of the success of quantum theory, what it requires, and what it rules out. While these investigations are primarily foundational, they also have relevance to quantum information, quantum communication, and experiments on quantum systems. [abstract shortened due to arxiv restrictions]

Accepted DPhil thesis, 2017. 206 pages. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:01413eef-0944-4ec5-ad53-ac8378bcf4be

References in corpus (137)

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• Quantum Coherence and Closed Timelike Curves
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• Transition Probability (Fidelity) and Its Relatives
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• Each instant of time a new Universe
• Leggett-Garg Inequalities, Pilot Waves and Contextuality
• Epistemic view of quantum states and communication complexity of quantum channels
• How statistical are quantum states?
• Inferring latent structures via information inequalities
• Treating Time Travel Quantum Mechanically
• Generalized Bell Inequality Experiments and Computation
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• Unitarity Restoration in the Presence of Closed Timelike Curves
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Cited by in corpus (1)

• A Stronger Theorem Against Macro-realism