Quantum theory as a principle theory: insights from an information-theoretic reconstruction

TL;DR

This paper reviews a recent derivation of quantum theory from information-theoretic principles, emphasizing the explanatory power of viewing physics as computation and proposing a partial interpretation of quantum mechanics.

Contribution

It presents a condensed summary of an information-theoretic reconstruction of quantum theory and explores its implications for understanding quantum reality and interpretations.

Findings

Quantum theory can be derived from information-theoretic principles.

Physics as computation provides significant explanatory power.

Reversible time evolution is a key property of quantum theory.

Abstract

We give a condensed and accessible summary of a recent derivation of quantum theory from information-theoretic principles, and use it to study the consequences of this and other reconstructions for our conceptual understanding of the quantum world. Since these principles are to a large extent expressed in computational terminology, we argue that the hypothesis of "physics as computation", if suitably interpreted, attains surprising explanatory power. Similarly as Jeffrey Bub and others, we conclude that quantum theory should be understood as a "principle theory of information", and we regard this view as a partial interpretation of quantum theory. We outline three options for completion into a full-fledged interpretation of quantum theory, but argue that, despite their interpretational agnosticism, the principled reconstructions pose a challenge for existing psi-ontic interpretations. We also argue that continuous reversible time evolution can be understood as a characteristic property of quantum theory, offering a possible answer to Chris Fuchs' search for a "glimpse of quantum reality".