On the Reality of the Wavefunction

TL;DR

This paper critiques the PBR theorem within the Ontological Models Framework, showing that its conclusion against the epistemic view of the wavefunction relies on incomplete assumptions, and proposes a modification to the framework.

Contribution

It identifies an inadequacy in the original OMF by not modeling measurement devices and demonstrates how including this changes the PBR result.

Findings

PBR's conclusion depends on incomplete assumptions.

Including measurement device ontology invalidates PBR's argument.

The wavefunction's ontological status remains open under the modified framework.

Abstract

Within the Ontological Models Framework (OMF), Pusey, Barrett, and Rudolph (PBR) have given an argument by which they claimed that the epistemic view on the wavefunction should be ruled out. This study highlights an incorrect conclusion in PBR's arguments, which was made due to inadequacies in the definitions of OMF. To be precise, OMF models the ontology of the preparation procedure, but it does not model the ontology of the measurement device. Such an asymmetric treatment becomes problematic, in scenarios in which measurement devices have a quantum nature. Modifying the OMF's definition such that the ontology of the measurement device becomes included, we will see how PBR's result disappears.