Quantum Mechanism Helps Agents Combat with 'Bad' Social Choice Rules

Vyacheslav I. Yukalov, Didier Sornette

Emmanuel E. Haven

Haoyang Wu

Quantum strategies have been successfully applied to game theory for years. However, as a reverse problem of game theory, the theory of mechanism design is ignored by physicists. In this paper, the theory of mechanism design is generalized to a quantum domain. The main result is that by virtue of a quantum mechanism, agents who satisfy a certain condition can combat "bad" social choice rules instead of being restricted by the traditional mechanism design theory.

Badredine Arfi

Shan Shan

The quantification of social science remains a longstanding challenge, largely due to the philosophical nature of its foundational theories. Although quantum computing has advanced rapidly in recent years, its relevance to social theory remains underexplored. Most existing research focuses on micro-cognitive models or philosophical analogies, leaving a gap in system-level applications of quantum principles to the analysis of social systems. This study addresses that gap by proposing a theoretical and computational framework that combines quantum mechanics with Generative AI to simulate the emergence and evolution of social norms. Drawing on core quantum concepts--such as superposition, entanglement, and probabilistic measurement--this research models society as a dynamic, uncertain system and sets up five ideal-type experiments. These scenarios are simulated using 25 generative agents, each assigned evolving roles as compliers, resistors, or enforcers. Within a simulated environment monitored by a central observer (the Watcher), agents interact, respond to surveillance, and adapt to periodic normative disruptions. These interactions allow the system to self-organize under external stress and reveal emergent patterns. Key findings show that quantum principles, when integrated with generative AI, enable the modeling of uncertainty, emergence, and interdependence in complex social systems. Simulations reveal patterns including convergence toward normative order, the spread of resistance, and the spontaneous emergence of new equilibria in social rules. In conclusion, this study introduces a novel computational lens that lays the groundwork for a quantum-informed social theory. It offers interdisciplinary insights into how society can be understood not just as a structure to observe but as a dynamic system to simulate and redesign through quantum technologies.

Fred Kuttner, Bruce Rosenblum

David Mermin tells us that our “bad habit” of reifying the quantum state “induces people to write books and organize conferences about ‘the quantum measurement problem.’ “ However, a quantum measurement problem does not arise only from an unfortunate perspective on quantum theory. A quantum measurement problem, as close to magic as anything in science, is displayed in quantum-theory-neutral experimental observations that assume only the free choice of the experimenters. In the two-slit experiment, one can choose to demonstrate each object concentrated at a single slit or perform the contradictory demonstration, that each object spread over both slits. Facing this dilemma, George Greenstein and Arthur Zajonc note that “even had quantum theory never been invented, these [two-slit] experiments could have been performed, and we would still find ourselves unable to understand them.” 1 1. G. Greenstein, A. Zajonc, The Quantum Challenge: Modern Research on the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, 2nd ed., Jones and Bartlett, Sudbury, MA (2006), p. 124. Quantum weirdness is increasingly misappropriated as a way to buttress pseudoscience. It is a responsibility of physicists to combat such misappropriation. (See our letter in Physics Today, November 2006, page 14.)Presenting the intriguing strangeness of quantum mechanics honestly and interestingly by the use of books Mermin might seem to deplore can effectively combat the misuse of the quantum mysteries. Dismissing the measurement problem as merely a bad way of viewing quantum theory abandons a fascinating mystery in physics to the purveyors of pseudoscience.REFERENCESection:ChooseTop of pageREFERENCE <<1. G. Greenstein, A. Zajonc, The Quantum Challenge: Modern Research on the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, 2nd ed., Jones and Bartlett, Sudbury, MA (2006), p. 124. Google Scholar© 2009 American Institute of Physics.