Contextuality is the failure of ‘local’ probabilistic models to become global ones. In this paper, we introduce the notions ofmeasurable fibre bundle,probability fibre bundleandsample fibre bundlewhich capture and make precise the former statement. The central notions of contextuality are discussed under this formalism, examples worked out, and some new aspects pointed out. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Contextuality and probability in quantum mechanics and beyond’.
Contextuality is the failure of ‘local’ probabilistic models to become global ones. In this paper, we introduce the notions ofmeasurable fibre bundle,probability fibre bundleandsample fibre bundlewhich capture and make precise the former statement. The central notions of contextuality are discussed under this formalism, examples worked out, and some new aspects pointed out. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Contextuality and probability in quantum mechanics and beyond’.
In quantum physics, the term ‘contextual’ can be used in more than one way. One usage, here called ‘Bell contextual’ since the idea goes back to Bell, is that if A , B and C are three quantum observables, with A compatible (i.e. commuting) with B and also with C , whereas B and C are incompatible, a measurement of A might yield a different result (indicating that quantum mechanics is contextual) depending upon whether A is measured along with B (the { A , B } context) or with C (the { A , C } context). An analysis of what projective quantum measurements measure shows that quantum theory is Bell non-contextual: the outcome of a particular A measurement when A is measured along with B would have been exactly the same if A had, instead, been measured along with C . A different definition, here called ‘globally (non)contextual’ refers to whether or not there is (non-contextual) or is not (contextual) a single joint probability distribution that simultaneously assigns probabilities in a consistent manner to the outcomes of measurements of a certain collection of observables, not all of which are compatible. A simple example shows that such a joint probability distribution can exist even in a situation where the measurement probabilities cannot refer to properties of a quantum system, and hence lack physical significance, even though mathematically well defined. It is noted that the quantum sample space, a projective decomposition of the identity, required for interpreting measurements of incompatible properties in different runs of an experiment using different types of apparatus, has a tensor product structure, a fact sometimes overlooked. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Contextuality and probability in quantum mechanics and beyond’.
Contextuality can be understood as the impossibility to construct a globally consistent description of a model even if there is local agreement. In particular, quantum models present this property. We can describe contextuality with the bundle approach, where the scenario is represented as a simplicial complex, the fibers being the sets of outcomes, and contextuality as the non-existence of global section in the measure bundle. Using the generalization to non-finite outcome fibers, we built in details the concept of measure bundle, demonstrating the Fine-Abramsky-Brandenburger theorem for the bundle formalism. We introduce a hierarchy called n-contextuality to explore the dependence of contextual behavior of a model to the topology of the scenario, following the construction of it as a simplicial complex. With it we exemplify the dependence on higher homology groups and show that GHZ models, thus quantum theory, has all levels of the hierarchy. Also, we give an example of how non-trivial topology of the scenario result an increase of contextual behavior. For the first level of the hierarchy, we construct the concept of connection through Markov operators for the measure bundle. Taking the case of equal fibers we can identify the outcomes as the basis of a vector space, that transform according to a group extracted from the connection. We thus show that contextuality has a relationship with the non-triviality of the holonomy group in the respective frame bundle.
Inspired by the recast of the quantum mechanics in a toposical framework, we develop a contextual quantum mechanics via the geometric mathematics to propose a quantum contextuality adaptable in every topos. \nThe contextuality adopted corresponds to the belief that the quantum world must only be seen from the classical viewpoints à la Bohr consequently putting forth the notion of a context, while retaining a realist understanding. Mathematically, the cardinal object is a spectral Stone bundle Σ → B (between stably-compact locales) permitting a treatment of the kinematics, fibre by fibre and fully point-free. In leading naturally to a new notion of points, the geometricity permits to understand those of the base space B as the contexts C — the commutative C*–algebras of a incommutative C*–algebras — and those of the spectral locale Σ as the couples (C, ψ), with ψ a state of the system from the perspective of such a C. The contexts are furnished with a natural order, the aggregation order which is installed as the specialization on B and Σ thanks to (one part of) the Priestley's duality adapted geometrically as well as to the effectuality of the lax descent of the Stone bundles along the perfect maps.
The theme of this issue is ‘Quantum contextuality, causality and freedom of choice.’ Contextuality, including non-locality as its special case, has long since becomeone of the central topics in foundations of quantum mechanics, also making inroads in computer science, psychology and linguistics. Contextuality (or lack thereof, non-contextuality) is a property of a system of measurements, broadly understood. The measurements have generally random outcomes, and, as a preliminary intuition, a system of measurements is contextual if one cannot find a joint distribution for their outcomes subject to certain constraints. A precise definition depends on how a system of measurements is represented, which can be done in several different ways.
The origin and basis of the notion of quantum contextuality is identified in the Copenhagen approach to quantum mechanics, where context is automatically invoked by its requirement that the experimental arrangement involved in any measurements or set of measurements be taken into account while, in general, the outcome of a measurement may depend on other measurements immediately preceding or jointly performed on the same system. For Bohr, the specification of the experimental situation of any measurement is essential to its significance in light of complementarity and the omnipresence of the quantum of action in physics; for Heisenberg, the incompatibility of pairs of sharp measurements belonging to different situations coheres with both the completeness of the quantum state as an objective physical description and the principle of indeterminacy. Here, context in the Copenhagen approach is taken to be the equivalence class of experimental arrangements corresponding to a set of compatible measurements of quantum observables in standard quantum mechanics; the associated form of contextuality in quantum mechanics arises via the non-commutativity in general of sharp observables, proven by von Neumann, that can appear, providing different contexts. This notion is related to theoretical situations explored later by Bell, by Kochen and Specker, and by others in relation to the classification of hidden-variables theories and elsewhere in physics. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Contextuality and probability in quantum mechanics and beyond’.
We propose a novel mathematical framework, rooted in fiber bundle theory, to quantify the phenomenon of quantum contextuality—a fundamental aspect of quantum entanglement. To demonstrate its utility, we first apply the formalism to quantum models in the foundations of quantum physics that both capture and differentiate varying strengths of contextuality. By revealing the intrinsic geometric structure of contextuality, the framework establishes a direct link to its computational foundations, facilitating the formulation of a topology-based model of computation that encapsulates the semantics inherent to contextuality. The framework delivers a rigorous and potentially more profound mathematical characterization of quantum contextuality, while offering new modeling methodologies for quantum cognition.