Determinism, independence, and objectivity are incompatible.
Hidden-variable models aim to reproduce the results of quantum theory and to satisfy our classical intuition. Their refutation is usually based on deriving predictions that are different from those of quantum mechanics. Here instead we study the mutual compatibility of apparently reasonable classical assumptions. We analyze a version of the delayed-choice experiment which ostensibly combines determinism, independence of hidden variables on the conducted experiments, and wave-particle objectivity (the assertion that quantum systems are, at any moment, either particles or waves, but not both). These three ideas are incompatible with any theory, not only with quantum mechanics.
Department of Theoretical Physics, National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering, 077125 Bucharest-Măgurele, Romania and Research Center for Spatial Information-CEOSpaceTech, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 313 Splaiul Independenţei, 061071 Bucharest, Romania.
Radu
R
Ionicioiu
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Robert B
RB
Mann
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Daniel R
DR
Terno