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arXiv:1412.0429

Even quantum pigeons may thrive together. A note on 'the quantum pigeonhole principle'

B. E. Y. Svensson

Published Dec 1, 2014• 1 citation
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Abstract

The findings in the paper 'The quantum pigeonhole principle and the nature of quantum correlations', (arXiv 1407.3194), by Aharonov, Colombo, Popescu, Sabadini, Struppa and Tollaksen are scrutinized. I argue that some of the conclusions in the paper are ambiguous in the sense that they depend on the precise way one defines correlations, and that the 'first experiments' the authors suggest has little if any bearing on their main theses. The far-reaching conclusions the authors reach seems, therefore, premature.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1412.0429

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The findings in the paper 'The quantum pigeonhole principle and the nature of quantum correlations', (arXiv 1407.3194), by Aharonov, Colombo, Popescu, Sabadini, Struppa and Tollaksen are scrutinized. I argue that some of the conclusions in the paper are ambiguous in the sense that they depend on the precise way one defines correlations, and that the 'first experiments' the authors suggest has little if any bearing on their main theses. The far-reaching conclusions the authors reach seems, therefore, premature.
It was recently argued that the pigeonhole principle, which states that if three pigeons are put into two pigeonholes then at least one pigeonhole must contain more than one pigeon, is violated in quantum systems [Y. Aharonov et al., PNAS 113, 532 (2016)]. An experimental verification of this effect was recently reported [M.-C. Chen et al., PNAS 116, 1549 (2019)]. In another recent experimental work, it was argued that two entities were observed to exchange properties without meeting each other [Z.-H. Liu et al., Nat. Commun. 11, 3006 (2020)]. Here we describe all these proposals and experiments as simple quantum interference effects, where no such dramatic conclusions appear. Besides demystifying some of the conclusions of the cited works, we also present physical insights for some interesting behaviors present in these treatments. For instance, we associate the anomalous particles behaviors in the quantum pigeonhole effect to a quantum interference of force.
It was recently argued that the pigeonhole principle, which states that if three pigeons are put into two pigeonholes then at least one pigeonhole must contain more than one pigeon, is violated in quantum systems [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 113, 532 (2016)]. An experimental verification of this effect was recently reported [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 116, 1549 (2019)]. In another recent experimental work, it was argued that two entities were observed to exchange properties without meeting each other [Nat. Commun. 11, 3006 (2020)]. Here we describe all these proposals and experiments as simple quantum interference effects where no such dramatic conclusions appear. Besides demystifying some of the conclusions of the cited works, we also present physical insights for some interesting behaviors present in these treatments. For instance, we associate the anomalous particles behaviors in the quantum pigeonhole effect to a quantum interference of force.