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A no-go theorem for observer-independent facts

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arxiv 1804.00749 v1 pith:PHBF2TAT submitted 2018-04-02 quant-ph

A no-go theorem for observer-independent facts

classification quant-ph
keywords wignerfactsfriendobserver-independenttheoremarxivdifferentno-go
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved
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In his famous thought experiment, Wigner assigns an entangled state to the composite quantum system made up of Wigner's friend and her observed system. While the two of them have different accounts of the process, each Wigner and his friend can in principle verify his/her respective state assignments by performing an appropriate measurement. As manifested through a click in a detector or a specific position of the pointer, the outcomes of these measurements can be regarded as reflecting directly observable "facts". Reviewing arXiv:1507.05255, I will derive a no-go theorem for observer-independent facts, which would be common both for Wigner and the friend. I will then analyze this result in the context of a newly derived theorem in arXiv:1604.07422, where Frauchiger and Renner prove that "single-world interpretations of quantum theory cannot be self-consistent". It is argued that "self-consistency" has the same implications as the assumption that observational statements of different observers can be compared in a single (and hence an observer-independent) theoretical framework. The latter, however, may not be possible, if the statements are to be understood as relational in the sense that their determinacy is relative to an observer.

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Forward citations

Cited by 3 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score.

  1. Quantum Reference Fields Transformations in Linearized Quantum Gravity

    gr-qc 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 7.0

    Extends quantum reference frames to quantum reference fields in linearized quantum gravity and derives unitary maps implementing relational gauge-invariant observables between quantum perspectives.

  2. Adlam's Frame: comment on "Wigner's Frame"

    quant-ph 2026-07 conditional novelty 6.0

    Quantum reference frames do not evade the Wigner's-friend no-go theorems: the proposed resolution alters quantum theory and measures a substituted observable, not the friend's outcome.

  3. Wavefunctions localization, and the Wigner's Friend Paradox in a Framework of Discrete-Space Hypothesis

    quant-ph 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 5.0

    Wavefunction localization emerges dynamically from the Schrödinger equation on R x Q_p, allowing independent definite readings for Wigner and his friend as classical apparatuses and consistency with extended no-go the...