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Agent Inaccessibility as a Fundamental Principle in Quantum Mechanics: Objective Unpredictability and Formal

Jan Walleczek1

  • 1Phenoscience Laboratories, Novalisstrasse 11, Aufgang F, 10115 Berlin, Germany.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)
|December 3, 2020
PubMed
Summary

Quantum mechanics limits agent access to quantum states. This study proposes "objective ignorance" via uncomputability, offering a new principle for quantum agent inaccessibility.

Keywords:
Turing incomputabilitycomputational irreducibilitydynamical chaosemergent quantum stateepistemic agentobjective non-signaling constraintontological quantum mechanicsquantum inaccessibilityself-referential dynamicsundecidable dynamics

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Area of Science:

  • Quantum Mechanics
  • Foundations of Physics
  • Information Theory

Background:

  • The inaccessibility of complete quantum states to experimenters is a known phenomenon.
  • Existing interpretations attribute this to quantum indeterminism (intrinsic randomness) or effective ignorance (operational limits).
  • A fundamental understanding of the physical basis for agent inaccessibility remains elusive.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the physical underpinnings governing agent inaccessibility in quantum mechanics.
  • To explore alternative explanations beyond intrinsic randomness and effective ignorance.
  • To propose a new principle, 'objective ignorance,' based on uncomputability.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of self-referential dynamics within ontological quantum mechanics.
  • Inclusion of undecidable dynamics and dynamical chaos as formal limits.
  • Formalizing uncomputability as a fundamental limit on agent access to quantum information.

Main Results:

  • Demonstrates that quantum indeterminism lacks formal proof for quantum random sequences.
  • Presents uncomputability of quantum random sequences as a plausible, formal limit.
  • Establishes uncomputability as a basis for objective unpredictability and agent inaccessibility.

Conclusions:

  • Proposes 'objective ignorance' as an in-principle limit for ontological quantum mechanics.
  • Suggests that uncomputability, rather than intrinsic randomness, may fundamentally limit agent access.
  • Introduces a novel 'agent-inaccessibility principle' grounded in self-referential and computational limits.