63 research outputs found
The quantum bit commitment theorem
Unconditionally secure two-party bit commitment based solely on the
principles of quantum mechanics (without exploiting special relativistic
signalling constraints, or principles of general relativity or thermodynamics)
has been shown to be impossible, but the claim is repeatedly challenged. The
quantum bit commitment theorem is reviewed here and the central conceptual
point, that an `Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen' attack or cheating strategy can always
be applied, is clarified. The question of whether following such a cheating
strategy can ever be disadvantageous to the cheater is considered and answered
in the negative. There is, indeed, no loophole in the theorem.Comment: LaTeX, 25 pages. Forthcoming in Foundations of Physics, May 200
Characterizing quantum theory in terms of information-theoretic constraints
We show that three fundamental information-theoretic constraints--the
impossibility of superluminal information transfer between two physical systems
by performing measurements on one of them, the impossibility of broadcasting
the information contained in an unknown physical state, and the impossibility
of unconditionally secure bit commitment--suffice to entail that the
observables and state space of a physical theory are quantum-mechanical. We
demonstrate the converse derivation in part, and consider the implications of
alternative answers to a remaining open question about nonlocality and bit
commitment.Comment: 25 pages, LaTe
The Bare Theory Has No Clothes
We criticize the bare theory of quantum mechanics -- a theory on which the Schrödinger equation is universally valid, and standard way of thinking about superpositions is correct
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