A quantum state represents neither properties of a physical system
nor anyone s knowledge of its properties. The important question is not
what quantum states represent but how they are used as informational
bridges. Knowing about some physical situations (its backing conditions),
an agent may assign a quantum state to form expectations about other
possible physical situations (its advice conditions). Quantum states are
objective: only expectations based on correct state assignments are gen-
erally reliable. If a quantum state represents anything, it is the objective
probabilistic relations between its backing conditions and its advice con-
ditions. This paper o¤ers an account of quantum states and their function
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/623074 |
| Date | 09 September 2015 |
| Creators | Healey, Richard |
| Contributors | University of Arizona |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article |
| Rights | © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015 |
| Relation | http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10701-015-9949-7 |
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