# An impossibility theorem for Parameter Independent hidden variable theories

## TL;DR

This paper critically examines Colbeck and Renner's claim that no hidden variable theory can improve quantum predictions, identifying gaps in their proof and establishing an impossibility theorem under the assumption of Parameter Independence.

## Contribution

The paper refines the impossibility theorem by addressing gaps in prior proofs and shows that hidden variable theories satisfying Parameter Independence are incompatible with quantum predictions.

## Key findings

- Identifies gaps in Colbeck and Renner's proof
- Fills gaps by explicitly assuming Parameter Independence
- Shows violation of Parameter Independence is necessary for hidden variables

## Abstract

Recently, Roger Colbeck and Renato Renner (C&R) have claimed that '[n]o extension of quantum theory can have improved predictive power'. If correct, this is a spectacular impossibility theorem for hidden variable theories, which is more general than the theorems of Bell and Leggett. C&R's claim essentially means that in any hidden variable theory that is compatible with quantum-mechanical predictions, probabilities of measurement outcomes are independent of these hidden variables. On closer inspection, however, the generality and validity of the claim can be contested. First, it is based on an assumption called 'Freedom of Choice'. As the name suggests, this assumption involves the independence of an experimenter's choice of measurement settings. But in the way C&R define this assumption, a no-signalling condition is surreptitiously presupposed, making the assumption less innocent than it sounds. When using this definition, any hidden variable theory violating Parameter Independence, such as Bohmian Mechanics, is immediately shown to be incompatible with quantum-mechanical predictions. Also, the argument of C&R is hard to follow and their mathematical derivation contains several gaps, some of which cannot be closed in the way they suggest. We shall show that these gaps can be filled. The issue with the 'Freedom of Choice' assumption can be circumvented by explicitly assuming Parameter Independence. This makes the result less general, but better founded. We then obtain an impossibility theorem for hidden variable theories satisfying Parameter Independence only. So, while quantum mechanics itself satisfies Parameter Independence, if a variable is added that changes the outcome probabilities, however slightly, Parameter Independence must be violated.