Measurement contextuality is implied by macroscopic realism
- Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 30 West District, Xiao-Hong-Shan, Wuhan 430071 (China)
Ontological theories of quantum mechanics provide a realistic description of single systems by means of well-defined quantities conditioning the measurement outcomes. In order to be complete, they should also fulfill the minimal condition of macroscopic realism. Under the assumption of outcome determinism and for Hilbert space dimension greater than 2, they were all proved to be contextual for projective measurements. In recent years a generalized concept of noncontextuality was introduced that applies also to the case of outcome indeterminism and unsharp measurements. It was pointed out that the Beltrametti-Bugajski model is an example of measurement noncontextual indeterminist theory. Here we provide a simple proof that this model is the only one with such a feature for projective measurements and Hilbert space dimension greater than 2. In other words, there is no extension of quantum theory providing more accurate predictions of outcomes and simultaneously preserving the minimal labeling of events through projective operators. As a corollary, noncontextuality for projective measurements implies noncontextuality for unsharp measurements. By noting that the condition of macroscopic realism requires an extension of quantum theory, unless a breaking of unitarity is invoked, we arrive at the conclusion that the only way to solve the measurement problem in the framework of an ontological theory is by relaxing the hypothesis of measurement noncontextuality in its generalized sense.
- OSTI ID:
- 21544566
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 83; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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