de Barros, Acacio and Holik, Federico and Krause, Décio (2017) Contextuality and Indistinguishability. [Preprint]

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Abstract

It is well known that in quantum mechanics we cannot always define consistently properties that are context independent. Many approaches exist to describe contextual properties, such as Contextuality by Default (CbD), sheaf theory, topos theory, and non-standard or signed probabilities. In this paper we propose a treatment of contextual properties that is specific to quantum mechanics, as it relies on the relationship between contextuality and indistinguishability. In particular, we propose that if we assume the ontological thesis that quantum particles or properties can be indistinguishable yet different, no contradiction arising from a Kochen-Specker-type argument appears: when we repeat an experiment, we are in reality performing an experiment measuring a property that is indistinguishable from the first, but not the same. We will discuss how the consequences of this move may help us understand quantum contextuality.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID de Barros, Acacio barros@sfsu.edu Holik, Federico olentiev2@gmail.com Krause, Décio deciokrause@gmail.com
Keywords:	quantum contextuality; indistinguishability; Kochen-Specker theorem; quasi-sets
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Logic Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Ontology Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Depositing User:	Prof. Décio Krause
Date Deposited:	19 Jul 2017 20:45
Last Modified:	19 Jul 2017 20:45
Item ID:	13225
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Logic Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Ontology Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Date:	18 July 2017
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/13225

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