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Observer-Dependent Reality in Quantum Mechanics: A Critical Review of the Wigner's Friend Paradox and Its Modern Extensions

Chamila Chandrabanu Ekanayake

Published Jan 1, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher
DOI
10.2139/ssrn.6730420

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Observer-Dependent reality in Quantum mechanics:A critical Review of the Wigner's Friend Paradox and its Modern Extension

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This paper presents a critical review of the Wigner’s Friend thought experiment and its modern extensions within quantum mechanics. The study explores observer-dependent reality, measurement theory, quantum state assignment, and interpretational challenges arising from nested observers in quantum systems. Particular attention is given to the Frauchiger–Renner argument and its implications for the consistency of single-world interpretations of quantum mechanics. The paper discusses conceptual tensions between unitarity, observer perspectives, and objective reality, while examining possible resolutions proposed in contemporary quantum foundations research. This work is intended as an independent scholarly review aimed at contributing to discussions in quantum foundations and quantum information theory.

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The Concept of Reality in the Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics

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This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of Wigner’s Friend paradox (1961), a foundational thought experiment in quantum mechanics that highlights the tension between the internal perspective of a measuring observer (who experiences a definite outcome) and the external perspective of a super-observer who treats the entire laboratory as a quantum system in superposition. It traces the historical lineage from Schrödinger’s cat and von Neumann’s measurement theory, provides a formal mathematical description of the state evolution and logical structure of the paradox, examines implications for major interpretations of quantum mechanics (Copenhagen, Everettian many-worlds, QBism, relational quantum mechanics, and objective collapse theories), and discusses modern extensions such as the Frauchiger–Renner paradox. The work explores profound philosophical and epistemological consequences for the nature of observation, objectivity, intersubjectivity, and the role of consciousness in quantum theory (2026).
This paper reanalyzes the Wigner’s Friend scenario as a case of illicit scope transport rather than as evidence of paradox, observer-dependence, or foundational incompleteness in quantum mechanics. It shows that the apparent contradiction arises when descriptive commitments licensed in one representational scope are improperly exported into another without admissible justification. Within a closed admissibility framework, observer-relative descriptions are not interchangeable by default. Each description is licensed only within a specific scope defined by standing, reference, and expressive constraints. The Wigner’s Friend paradox emerges when a state description valid within the friend’s scope is treated as if it must remain valid under an external observer’s incompatible scope, collapsing representational separation into apparent inconsistency. The analysis is eliminative. It does not introduce new interpretations of quantum mechanics, propose resolution mechanisms, or modify measurement postulates. Instead, it establishes a boundary condition: cross-scope state identification is inadmissible unless standing-preserving transport conditions are satisfied. Where these conditions fail, the resulting contradiction is not physical but representational. By classifying Wigner’s Friend as a scope error rather than a quantum mystery, the paper dissolves a class of arguments for observer-relative reality, branching worlds, or relational ontology. It closes the problem by showing that the paradox is generated by an illicit move between descriptive regimes, not by any failure of quantum theory itself.