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Oxford University Press eBooks

Indeterminism and Probability

Bas C. van Fraassen

Published Sep 26, 1991• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Pure indeterminism is simply the denial of determinism; a theory may augment this with models in which the uncertain events have definite probabilities. De Finetti's representation theorem, which pertains to permutation symmetry, and ergodic theory (for abstract dynamical systems) provide illustrations of classical probabilistic theories. A number of features generally discussed in connection with quantum mechanics are already found in classical probability models. These include symmetry constraints and a general form for dynamical equations (analogous to Schroedinger's equation) as well as the sort of holism involved in ’non‐local’ correlations.

DOI
10.1093/0198239807.003.0003

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De Finetti theorems convert permutation symmetry into approximate mixtures of product states and thereby justify a wide range of reductions in classical and quantum statistics. In this work we study de Finetti hierarchies in which the feasible states are additionally constrained to be fixed points of quantum channels, a condition that subsumes invariance under arbitrary compact symmetry groups. Combining the mean-ergodic theorem with the structure theory of conditional expectations, we prove a tight bound on the entanglement-assisted classical capacity of the dual of a conditional expectation, block-wise distortion bounds for informationally complete measurements adapted to fixed point algebras, and an exact type-based refinement of the chain rule for permutation-invariant states. From these tools we derive several de Finetti theorems: a double-sided extension theorem with $O\left(\sqrt{\log n}/n\right)$ convergence, an interpolation theorem whose dimension dependence is governed solely by the block structure of the fixed point algebras and which recovers the dimension-independent classical behavior for maximal tori, and a Bose-symmetric variant. Exploiting Schur-Weyl duality and Gelfand-Tsetlin bases, we further show that the rounding scheme producing certifiably good separable inner approximations for (constrained) separability problems can be implemented in time polynomial in $1/ε$ for fixed local dimensions, complementing the known efficient outer hierarchies. Applications to bilinear optimization under symmetries and to approximate quantum error correction are discussed.

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Pure indeterminism is simply the denial of determinism; a theory may augment this with models in which the uncertain events have definite probabilities. De Finetti's representation theorem, which pertains to permutation symmetry, and ergodic theory (for abstract dynamical systems) provide illustrations of classical probabilistic theories. A number of features generally discussed in connection with quantum mechanics are already found in classical probability models. These include symmetry constraints and a general form for dynamical equations (analogous to Schroedinger's equation) as well as the sort of holism involved in ’non‐local’ correlations.
The problem of indeterminism in quantum mechanics usually being considered as a generalization determinism of classical mechanics and physics for the case of discrete (quantum) changes is interpreted as an only mathematical problem referring to the relation of a set of independent choices to a well-ordered series therefore regulated by the equivalence of the axiom of choice and the well-ordering “theorem”. The former corresponds to quantum indeterminism, and the latter, to classical determinism. No other premises (besides the above only mathematical equivalence) are necessary to explain how the probabilistic causation of quantum mechanics refers to the unambiguous determinism of classical physics. The same equivalence underlies the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics. It merged the well-ordered components of the vectors of Heisenberg’s matrix mechanics and the non-ordered members of the wave functions of Schrödinger’s undulatory mechanics. The mathematical condition of that merging is just the equivalence of the axiom of choice and the well-ordering theorem implying in turn Max Born’s probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics. Particularly, energy conservation is justified differently than classical physics. It is due to the equivalence at issue rather than to the principle of least action. One may involve two forms of energy conservation corresponding whether to the smooth changes of classical physics or to the discrete changes of quantum mechanics. Further both kinds of changes can be equated to each other under the unified energy conservation as well as the conditions for the violation of energy conservation to be investigated therefore directing to a certain generalization of energy conservation.
We present an elementary proof of the quantum de Finetti representation theorem, a quantum analog of de Finetti’s classical theorem on exchangeable probability assignments. This contrasts with the original proof of Hudson and Moody [Z. Wahrschein. verw. Geb. 33, 343 (1976)], which relies on advanced mathematics and does not share the same potential for generalization. The classical de Finetti theorem provides an operational definition of the concept of an unknown probability in Bayesian probability theory, where probabilities are taken to be degrees of belief instead of objective states of nature. The quantum de Finetti theorem, in a closely analogous fashion, deals with exchangeable density-operator assignments and provides an operational definition of the concept of an “unknown quantum state” in quantum-state tomography. This result is especially important for information-based interpretations of quantum mechanics, where quantum states, like probabilities, are taken to be states of knowledge rather than states of nature. We further demonstrate that the theorem fails for real Hilbert spaces and discuss the significance of this point.
In this chapter, we consider the way quantum theory represents deterministic, statistical, and probabilistic aspects of Nature. After a discussion in Section 3.1 of uncertainty in general, we discuss in Sections 3.2-3.4 several formal notions of classical probability, their relation to the probability concept used in applied statistics, and their dependence on the description used. Section 3.5 briefly discusses various examples, where probabilistic features emerge from fully deterministic situations-a theme to be taken up in much more detail in Chapter 11. Section 3.6 then shows how the statistical aspects of the quantum formalism naturally follow from the weak law of large numbers. The notions of c-probability in the classical case and of q-probability in the quantum case are formally defined in Section 3.7. Historically, the concept of classical probability (including its use in stochastic processes) was given an undisputed formal mathematical foundation in 1933 in terms of the measure-theoretic setting of Kolmogorov [164]. Apart from this traditional axiomatic foundation of classical probability theory, there is a less well-known equivalent axiomatic treatment by Whittle [302] in terms of expectations. Here probabilities appear as the expectations of statements, {0, 1}-valued random variables. von Plato [240] discusses the history of the concept of probability. Krüger et al. [169] discuss the history of probability in the various fields of application. Sklar [275] discusses the philosophical problems of the probability concept, with an emphasis on statistical mechanics.
We use Bub's (2016) correlation arrays and Pitowksy's (1989b) correlation polytopes to analyze an experimental setup due to Mermin (1981) for measurements on the singlet state of a pair of spin-12\frac1221​ particles. The class of correlations allowed by quantum mechanics in this setup is represented by an elliptope inscribed in a non-signaling cube. The class of correlations allowed by local hidden-variable theories is represented by a tetrahedron inscribed in this elliptope. We extend this analysis to pairs of particles of arbitrary spin. The class of correlations allowed by quantum mechanics is still represented by the elliptope; the subclass of those allowed by local hidden-variable theories by polyhedra with increasing numbers of vertices and facets that get closer and closer to the elliptope. We use these results to advocate for an interpretation of quantum mechanics like Bub's. Probabilities and expectation values are primary in this interpretation. They are determined by inner products of vectors in Hilbert space. Such vectors do not themselves represent what is real in the quantum world. They encode families of probability distributions over values of different sets of observables. As in classical theory, these values ultimately represent what is real in the quantum world. Hilbert space puts constraints on possible combinations of such values, just as Minkowski space-time puts constraints on possible spatio-temporal constellations of events. Illustrating how generic such constraints are, the equation for the elliptope derived in this paper is a general constraint on correlation coefficients that can be found in older literature on statistics and probability theory. Yule (1896) already stated the constraint. De Finetti (1937) already gave it a geometrical interpretation.
On a very intuitive way of thinking, if it is already determined that some event will happen, then there is no non-trivial chance of it failing to happen, and if it is already determined that some event will not happen, then there is no non-trivial chance of it happening. A different sort of worry that arises for an actual frequentist analysis of deterministic chance is that such an analysis seems unsuited to theories like Boltzmannian statistical mechanics or Bohmian mechanics insofar as those theories are supposed to describe the evolution of the Universe as a whole. It should be clear, then, that there are options available for understanding deterministic chance that are in keeping with several of the leading metaphysical analyses of chance. It is widely accepted that whatever chances are, they are to be contrasted with individual credences . According to classical statistical mechanics, the fundamental laws are Newtonian and thus deterministic.
De Finetti theorems convert permutation symmetry into approximate mixtures of product states and thereby justify a wide range of reductions in classical and quantum statistics. In this work we study de Finetti hierarchies in which the feasible states are additionally constrained to be fixed points of quantum channels, a condition that subsumes invariance under arbitrary compact symmetry groups. Combining the mean-ergodic theorem with the structure theory of conditional expectations, we prove a tight bound on the entanglement-assisted classical capacity of the dual of a conditional expectation, block-wise distortion bounds for informationally complete measurements adapted to fixed point algebras, and an exact type-based refinement of the chain rule for permutation-invariant states. From these tools we derive several de Finetti theorems: a double-sided extension theorem with O(log⁡n/n)O\left(\sqrt{\log n}/n\right)O(logn​/n) convergence, an interpolation theorem whose dimension dependence is governed solely by the block structure of the fixed point algebras and which recovers the dimension-independent classical behavior for maximal tori, and a Bose-symmetric variant. Exploiting Schur-Weyl duality and Gelfand-Tsetlin bases, we further show that the rounding scheme producing certifiably good separable inner approximations for (constrained) separability problems can be implemented in time polynomial in 1/ε1/ε1/ε for fixed local dimensions, complementing the known efficient outer hierarchies. Applications to bilinear optimization under symmetries and to approximate quantum error correction are discussed.