The Bell-Kochen-Specker Theorem
D. M. Appleby

TL;DR
The paper clarifies that the MKC approach does not nullify the Bell-Kochen-Specker theorem but reveals a deeper understanding of its implications and the limitations of classical assumptions in quantum measurement.
Contribution
It proves a general theorem showing the extent of discontinuities in MKC colourings, clarifying the true implications of the Bell-KS theorem for quantum measurement theory.
Findings
MKC colourings contain unavoidable discontinuities.
Discontinuities imply empirically unknowable patches.
The extent of these patches matches traditional approaches.
Abstract
Meyer, Kent and Clifton (MKC) claim to have nullified the Bell-Kochen-Specker (Bell-KS) theorem. It is true that they invalidate KS's account of the theorem's physical implications. However, they do not invalidate Bell's point, that quantum mechanics is inconsistent with the classical assumption, that a measurement tells us about a property previously possessed by the system. This failure of classical ideas about measurement is, perhaps, the single most important implication of quantum mechanics. In a conventional colouring there are some remaining patches of white. MKC fill in these patches, but only at the price of introducing patches where the colouring becomes ''pathologically'' discontinuous. The discontinuities mean that the colours in these patches are empirically unknowable. We prove a general theorem which shows that their extent is at least as great as the patches of white in…
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Taxonomy
TopicsPhysics and Engineering Research Articles
