Decoherence and Probability.

One cannot justifiably presuppose the physical salience of structures derived via decoherence theory based upon an entirely uninterpreted use of the quantum formalism. Non-probabilistic accounts of the emergence of probability via decoherence are unconvincing. An alternative account of the emergence...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Philosophy of Science Vol. 93; no. 1; pp. 143 - 170
Autores principales: Dawid, Richard, Thébault, Karim P.Y.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Cambridge University Press Jan2026
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:One cannot justifiably presuppose the physical salience of structures derived via decoherence theory based upon an entirely uninterpreted use of the quantum formalism. Non-probabilistic accounts of the emergence of probability via decoherence are unconvincing. An alternative account of the emergence of probability involves the combination of a partially interpreted decoherence model and an averaging of observables with respect to a positive-definite quasi-probability function and neglect of terms of $O\left(\hbar \right)$. Our analysis delimits the context in which the combination of decoherence and a semi-classical averaging allows us to recover a classical probability model within an emergent coarse-grained description.