Third-order interference and a principle of `quantumness'

TL;DR

This paper explores the principle of the absence of third-order interference as a fundamental characteristic that distinguishes quantum probabilities from classical and other theories, shedding light on the unique mathematical structure of quantum mechanics.

Contribution

It identifies the absence of third-order interference as a key principle of 'quantumness' and discusses its implications for understanding quantum probabilities.

Findings

Third-order interference is absent in quantum mechanics.

The absence of third-order interference characterizes quantum probabilities.

This principle helps distinguish quantum theory from classical and other probabilistic theories.

Abstract

Are there physical, probabilistic or information-theoretic principles which characterize the quantum probabilities and distinguish them from the classical case as well as from other probability theories, or which reveal why quantum mechanics requires its very special mathematical formalism? The paper identifies the fundamental absence of third-order interference as such a principle of `quantumness'. Considering three-slit experiments, the concept of third-order interference was originally introduced by Sorkin in 1994.