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Decoherence and Probability

Dawid, Richard and Thebault, Karim P Y (2025) Decoherence and Probability. [Preprint]

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Abstract

One cannot justifiably presuppose the physical salience of structures derived via decoherence theory based upon an entirely uninterpreted use of the quantum formalism. Non-probabilistic accounts of the emergence of probability via decoherence are unconvincing. An alternative account of the emergence of probability involves the combination of a partially interpreted decoherence model and an averaging of observables with respect to a positive-definite quasi-probability function and neglect of terms $O(\hbar)$. Our analysis delimits the context in which the combination of decoherence and a semi-classical averaging allows us to recover a classical probability model within an emergent coarse-grained description.

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Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Dawid, Richardrichard.dawid@philosophy.su.se0000-0002-1472-2958
Thebault, Karim P Ykarim.thebault@gmail.com
Keywords: decoherence; probability; quasi-probability; semi-classical emergence
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Probability/Statistics
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
General Issues > Reductionism/Holism
Depositing User: Dr Karim Thebault
Date Deposited: 27 Jan 2025 14:16
Last Modified: 27 Jan 2025 14:16
Item ID: 24618
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Probability/Statistics
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
General Issues > Reductionism/Holism
Date: 26 January 2025
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/24618

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