arXiv:1403.2362 · Physical Review Letters

How the Result of a Single Coin Toss Can Turn Out to be 100 Heads

Christopher Ferrie, Joshua Combes

Published Sep 18, 2014• 138 citations

Abstract

We show that the phenomenon of anomalous weak values is not limited to quantum theory. In particular, we show that the same features occur in a simple model of a coin subject to a form of classical backaction with pre- and postselection. This provides evidence that weak values are not inherently quantum but rather a purely statistical feature of pre- and postselection with disturbance.

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.113.120404

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A comment on the paper "How can a Result of a Single Coin Toss Turn Out to be 100 Heads" by C. Ferrie and J. Combes

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The authors of a recent paper [Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 120404 (2014)] suggest that "weak values are not inherently quantum but rather a purely statistical feature of pre- and postselection with disturbance". We argue that this claim is erroneous, since such values require averaging with distributions which change sign. This type of averaging arises naturally in quantum mechanics, but may not occur in classical statistics.

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The authors of a recent paper [Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 120404 (2014)] suggest that weak values are not inherently quantum but rather a purely statistical feature of pre- and postselection with disturbance. We argue that this claim is erroneous, since such values require averaging with distributions which change sign. This type of averaging arises naturally in quantum mechanics, but may not occur in classical statistics.

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Comment on "How the result of a single coin toss can turn out to be 100 heads"

Lev Vaidman A

In a recent Letter [PRL 113, 120404 (2014)] Ferrie and Combes claimed to show "that weak values are not inherently quantum, but rather a purely statistical feature of pre- and post-selection with disturbance." In this Comment I will show that this claim is not valid. It follows from Ferrie and Combes misunderstanding of the concept of weak value.

arXiv:1409.5386Sep 18, 201411 citations

A comment on "How the result of a single coin toss can turn out to be 100 heads"

Eliahu Cohen

In [1] the authors claim that "weak values are not inherently quantum but rather a purely statistical feature". I argue that their model reproduces only few elements of weak measurements but fails to reproduce all the other intrinsically quantum features.

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Comment on 'How the result of a single coin toss can turn out to be 100 heads'

Yakir Aharonov, Daniel Rohrlich

The "anomalous" values of C. Ferrie and J. Combes in Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 120404 (2014) say nothing about quantum - or even classical - physics. They are not analogues of the weak values that emerge when we describe the quantum world via an initial state evolving forwards in time and a final state evolving backwards in time, and couple this world weakly to realistic measuring devices.

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Comment on “How the Result of a Single Coin Toss Can Turn Out to be 100 Heads”

Aharon Brodutch

Ferrie and Combes [PRL 113 120404 (2014)] produce a classical measurement scheme that supposedly exhibits `anomalous' weak values. I show that their model is flawed due to an incorrect definition of the weak value. As a consequence their claims are invalid.

arXiv:1410.8510Physical Review LettersMar 18, 201531 citations