Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Falsifiability Requires Measurement Independence

Dmytro Melnychenko

Published May 12, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

This note argues that Popperian falsifiability operationally requires Measurement Independence (MI). In Bell-type entanglement experiments, MI is not given but assumed a priori. Since Bell-CHSH correlations cannot be reproduced under Local Realism while preserving MI, any preservation of LR formally requires dependence between measurement settings and hidden variables. The note identifies an epistemic circularity: intervention independence is necessary for falsification, yet cannot itself be experimentally established within the same Bell framework without presupposing it.

DOI
10.5281/zenodo.20144266

Related papers

The Logical Necessity of Measurement Independence Violation in Local Realist Models

Dmytro Melnychenko

The Bell-CHSH formalism is often misinterpreted as a direct refutation of local realism (LR). This paper corrects that view by demonstrating a strict deductive necessity: once LR is assumed as a physical premise alongside empirical data, the violation of measurement independence (MI) is no longer a choice or a "loophole," but a mandatory logical consequence. The work formalizes the transition from a symmetric disjunction to a deterministic implication, proving that under LR, ¬MI is a theorem.

•Mar 12, 2026•0 citations

Tightest conditions for violating the Bell inequality when measurement independence is relaxed

Min-Su Kim, Jinhyoung Lee, Ho-Joon Kim +1 more

It has been believed that statistical inequalities such as the Bell inequality should be modified once measurement independence (MI), the assumption that observers can freely choose measurement settings without changing the probability distribution of hidden variables, is relaxed. However, we show that there exists the possibility that the Bell inequality is still valid even if MI is relaxed. MI is only a sufficient condition to derive the Bell inequality when both determinism and setting independence, usually called local realism, are satisfied. We thus propose a condition necessary and sufficient for deriving the Bell inequality, called concealed measurement dependence.

Physical Review A•Aug 29, 2019•2 citations

Is Bell inequality violated once measurement independence is relaxed?

Min-Su Kim, Jinhyoung Lee, Sang Wook Kim

It has been believed that statistical inequality such as Bell inequality should be modified once measurement independence (MI), the assumption that observers can freely choose measurement settings without changing the probability distribution of hidden variables, is relaxed. However, we show that there exists the possibility that Bell inequality is still valid even if MI is relaxed. MI is only a sufficient condition to derive Bell inequality when both determinism and setting independence, usually called as local realism, are satisfied. We thus propose a new condition necessary and sufficient for deriving Bell inequality, called as concealed measurement dependence.

arXiv:1403.4417•Mar 18, 2014•0 citations

Bell's Theorem Begs the Question

Joy Christian

I demonstrate that Bell's theorem is based on circular reasoning and thus a fundamentally flawed argument. It unjustifiably assumes the additivity of expectation values for dispersion-free states of contextual hidden variable theories for non-commuting observables involved in Bell-test experiments, which is tautologous to assuming the bounds of ±2 on the Bell-CHSH sum of expectation values. Its premises thus assume in a different guise the bounds of ±2 it sets out to prove. Once this oversight is ameliorated from Bell's argument by identifying the impediment that leads to it and local realism is implemented correctly, the bounds on the Bell-CHSH sum of expectation values work out to be ±2√2 instead of ±2, thereby mitigating the conclusion of Bell's theorem. Consequently, what is ruled out by any of the Bell-test experiments is not local realism but the linear additivity of expectation values, which does not hold for non-commuting observables in any hidden variable theories to begin with.

•Sep 25, 2023•0 citations

Bell's Theorem Begs the Question

Joy Christian

I demonstrate that Bell's theorem is based on circular reasoning and thus a fundamentally flawed argument. It unjustifiably assumes the additivity of expectation values for dispersion-free states of contextual hidden variable theories for non-commuting observables involved in Bell-test experiments, which is tautologous to assuming the bounds of ±2 on the Bell-CHSH sum of expectation values. Its premises thus assume in a different guise the bounds of ±2 it sets out to prove. Once this oversight is ameliorated from Bell's argument by identifying the impediment that leads to it and local realism is implemented correctly, the bounds on the Bell-CHSH sum of expectation values work out to be ±2√2 instead of ±2, thereby mitigating the conclusion of Bell's theorem. Consequently, what is ruled out by any of the Bell-test experiments is not local realism but the linear additivity of expectation values, which does not hold for non-commuting observables in any hidden variable theories to begin with.

•Jan 26, 2024•0 citations

Bell's Theorem Begs the Question

Joy Christian

I demonstrate that Bell's theorem is based on circular reasoning and thus a fundamentally flawed argument. It unjustifiably assumes the additivity of expectation values for dispersion-free states of contextual hidden variable theories for non-commuting observables involved in Bell-test experiments, which is tautologous to assuming the bounds of ±2 on the Bell-CHSH sum of expectation values. Its premises thus assume in a different guise the bounds of ±2 it sets out to prove. Once this oversight is ameliorated from Bell's argument by identifying the impediment that leads to it and local realism is implemented correctly, the bounds on the Bell-CHSH sum of expectation values work out to be ±2√2 instead of ±2, thereby mitigating the conclusion of Bell's theorem. Consequently, what is ruled out by any of the Bell-test experiments is not local realism but the linear additivity of expectation values, which does not hold for non-commuting observables in any hidden variable theories to begin with.

•Dec 27, 2023•0 citations
This note argues that Popperian falsifiability operationally requires Measurement Independence (MI). In Bell-type entanglement experiments, MI is not given but assumed a priori. Since Bell-CHSH correlations cannot be reproduced under Local Realism while preserving MI, any preservation of LR formally requires dependence between measurement settings and hidden variables. The note identifies an epistemic circularity: intervention independence is necessary for falsification, yet cannot itself be experimentally established within the same Bell framework without presupposing it.
The Bell-CHSH formalism is often misinterpreted as a direct refutation of local realism (LR). This paper corrects that view by demonstrating a strict deductive necessity: once LR is assumed as a physical premise alongside empirical data, the violation of measurement independence (MI) is no longer a choice or a "loophole," but a mandatory logical consequence. The work formalizes the transition from a symmetric disjunction to a deterministic implication, proving that under LR, ¬MI is a theorem.
It has been believed that statistical inequalities such as the Bell inequality should be modified once measurement independence (MI), the assumption that observers can freely choose measurement settings without changing the probability distribution of hidden variables, is relaxed. However, we show that there exists the possibility that the Bell inequality is still valid even if MI is relaxed. MI is only a sufficient condition to derive the Bell inequality when both determinism and setting independence, usually called local realism, are satisfied. We thus propose a condition necessary and sufficient for deriving the Bell inequality, called concealed measurement dependence.
It has been believed that statistical inequality such as Bell inequality should be modified once measurement independence (MI), the assumption that observers can freely choose measurement settings without changing the probability distribution of hidden variables, is relaxed. However, we show that there exists the possibility that Bell inequality is still valid even if MI is relaxed. MI is only a sufficient condition to derive Bell inequality when both determinism and setting independence, usually called as local realism, are satisfied. We thus propose a new condition necessary and sufficient for deriving Bell inequality, called as concealed measurement dependence.
I demonstrate that Bell's theorem is based on circular reasoning and thus a fundamentally flawed argument. It unjustifiably assumes the additivity of expectation values for dispersion-free states of contextual hidden variable theories for non-commuting observables involved in Bell-test experiments, which is tautologous to assuming the bounds of ±2 on the Bell-CHSH sum of expectation values. Its premises thus assume in a different guise the bounds of ±2 it sets out to prove. Once this oversight is ameliorated from Bell's argument by identifying the impediment that leads to it and local realism is implemented correctly, the bounds on the Bell-CHSH sum of expectation values work out to be ±2√2 instead of ±2, thereby mitigating the conclusion of Bell's theorem. Consequently, what is ruled out by any of the Bell-test experiments is not local realism but the linear additivity of expectation values, which does not hold for non-commuting observables in any hidden variable theories to begin with.
I demonstrate that Bell's theorem is based on circular reasoning and thus a fundamentally flawed argument. It unjustifiably assumes the additivity of expectation values for dispersion-free states of contextual hidden variable theories for non-commuting observables involved in Bell-test experiments, which is tautologous to assuming the bounds of ±2 on the Bell-CHSH sum of expectation values. Its premises thus assume in a different guise the bounds of ±2 it sets out to prove. Once this oversight is ameliorated from Bell's argument by identifying the impediment that leads to it and local realism is implemented correctly, the bounds on the Bell-CHSH sum of expectation values work out to be ±2√2 instead of ±2, thereby mitigating the conclusion of Bell's theorem. Consequently, what is ruled out by any of the Bell-test experiments is not local realism but the linear additivity of expectation values, which does not hold for non-commuting observables in any hidden variable theories to begin with.
I demonstrate that Bell's theorem is based on circular reasoning and thus a fundamentally flawed argument. It unjustifiably assumes the additivity of expectation values for dispersion-free states of contextual hidden variable theories for non-commuting observables involved in Bell-test experiments, which is tautologous to assuming the bounds of ±2 on the Bell-CHSH sum of expectation values. Its premises thus assume in a different guise the bounds of ±2 it sets out to prove. Once this oversight is ameliorated from Bell's argument by identifying the impediment that leads to it and local realism is implemented correctly, the bounds on the Bell-CHSH sum of expectation values work out to be ±2√2 instead of ±2, thereby mitigating the conclusion of Bell's theorem. Consequently, what is ruled out by any of the Bell-test experiments is not local realism but the linear additivity of expectation values, which does not hold for non-commuting observables in any hidden variable theories to begin with.