In Defense of a "Single-World" Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

TL;DR

This paper advocates for understanding quantum mechanics as a non-Boolean probabilistic framework, supporting a single-world interpretation despite recent arguments suggesting multiple realities.

Contribution

It introduces a probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics that aligns with a single-world view, countering the common notion that quantum theory implies multiple realities.

Findings

Quantum mechanics can be understood as a non-Boolean probability theory.

This interpretation is compatible with a consistent single-world perspective.

It challenges the implications of the Frauchiger-Renner argument.

Abstract

In a recent result, Frauchiger and Renner argue that if quantum theory accurately describes complex systems like observers who perform measurements, then "we are forced to give up the view that there is one single reality." Following a review of the Frauchiger-Renner argument, I argue that quantum mechanics should be understood probabilistically, as a new sort of non-Boolean probability theory, rather than representationally, as a theory about the elementary constituents of the physical world and how these elements evolve dynamically over time. I show that this way of understanding quantum mechanics is not in conflict with a consistent "single-world" interpretation of the theory.