The Quantum Foundations of Utility: Resolving the Incompleteness of Economic Theory

Sudip Patra, Sivani Yeddanapudi

Diederik Aerts, Jan Broekaert, Marek Czachor +1 more

IHSIEN CHOU

This paper explores the quantum many-worlds interpretation (MWI) and its implications beyond fundamental physics, extending to decision theory, game theory, and economics. Starting from the foundational principles of MWI, we examine how observers interact with branching universes, analyze Newcomb’s paradox in both classical and quantum forms, and discuss applications in quantum game theory and quantum economics. By integrating quantum concepts like superposition, entanglement, and interference, we demonstrate how these ideas resolve classical paradoxes and offer novel frameworks for modeling complex systems. Mathematical formulations are presented using Unicode symbols for clarity. The many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, proposed by Hugh Everett III in 1957, posits that the universe branches into multiple parallel realities during quantum measurements, avoiding the wave function collapse postulate. This framework has profound philosophical and practical implications, particularly in understanding decision-making under uncertainty. In this paper, we synthesize discussions on MWI, observer roles in branching, Newcomb’s paradox, its quantum variant, quantum game theory, and quantum economics. These topics form a coherent progression from quantum foundations to applied interdisciplinary fields, highlighting how quantum principles can reshape classical theories.

Yilei Wang, Qiuliang Xu, Zhe Liu

In traditional rational multi-party computation, parties are assumed to have utility functions and they act according to the utility assumptions. In economics and political scenarios, parties in multi-party computation may have some other properties such as reputation which plays an important role on boosting mutual cooperation in multiparty computation. In this paper we put forward a new kind of parties satisfying reputation assumption and utility assumptions. Meanwhile we construct a social rational multiparty computation protocol under incomplete information and incomplete network to facilitate the implementation of the protocol within constant rounds.

Misao Fukuda

The purpose of this research is to explore whether it is possible to construct a design theory for subscription services for intangible goods from a time discounting perspective, based on quantum information theory, which is the foundational theory for quantum computers and similar technologies. To this end, we propose a mathematical model of subscription services using optimization problems based on optimal growth theory from standard economics, and with reference to microeconomics, we define utility as a value function of customer satisfaction derived from quantum mutual information, an entropy measure in quantum information theory, by considering time discounting. We propose the quantification of customer satisfaction and the formulation of consumer surplus. In the mathematical model of subscription services, the existence of a minimum value in the time-discounted customer satisfaction value function under budget constraints, and the realization of a mathematical expression for consumer surplus, could be explained by the laws of behavioral economics. This yielded new insights into the design of individually customized customer experiences, enhanced the feasibility of constructing economic models based on quantum information theory and the mathematical design of customer experiences, raised the possibility that mathematical models using quantum information theory can achieve greater economic welfare than standard economics, and increased the feasibility of implementing optimization problem algorithms on quantum computers.

Kay‐Yut Chen, Tad Hogg, Raymond G. Beausoleil