Healey, Richard A.
(2021)
Representation and the Quantum State.
[Preprint]
Abstract
Alternative views of quantum states are often expressed using the language of representation. It is important to distinguish three questions here: What is a quantum state? How may a quantum state be represented? What, if anything, does a quantum state represent? I defend answers to these questions against alternatives. In brief, a quantum state is an objective relational property of a physical system that describes neither its intrinsic physical properties nor anyone’s epistemic state. A quantum state is representational (in my preferred sense of that term) and many quantum states are real. Since its primary role is to assign Born probabilities to certain physical events involving the system, a quantum state may be represented in quantum theory by any mathematical object that facilitates this role. If it represents anything, a quantum state represents the objective probabilities it yields in this way.
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Representation and the Quantum State. (deposited 27 Sep 2021 01:58)
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