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Main Authors: Delgado, Ruben Campos, Plávala, Martin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.04298
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author Delgado, Ruben Campos
Plávala, Martin
author_facet Delgado, Ruben Campos
Plávala, Martin
contents Nonlinear modifications of quantum theory are considered potential candidates for the theory of quantum gravity, with the intuitive argument that since Einstein field equations are nonlinear, quantum gravity should be nonlinear as well. Contextuality is a property of quantum systems that forbids the explanation of prepare-and-measure experiments in terms of classical hidden variable models with suitable properties. We show that some well-known nonlinear modifications of quantum mechanics, namely the Deutsch's map, the Weinberg's model, and the Schrödinger - Newton equation, map a contextual set of states to a non-contextual one. That is, the considered nonlinear modifications of quantum theory allow for the existence of classical hidden variable models for certain experimental setups. This enables us to design experiments that would rule out the considered nonlinear modifications of quantum theory by verifying that the system remains contextual, or, equivalently, our results highlight a mechanism how nonlinear modification of quantum theory may lead to weak wave function collapse and ultimately to the solution of the measurement problem.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_04298
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Ruling out nonlinear modifications of quantum theory with contextuality
Delgado, Ruben Campos
Plávala, Martin
Quantum Physics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Nonlinear modifications of quantum theory are considered potential candidates for the theory of quantum gravity, with the intuitive argument that since Einstein field equations are nonlinear, quantum gravity should be nonlinear as well. Contextuality is a property of quantum systems that forbids the explanation of prepare-and-measure experiments in terms of classical hidden variable models with suitable properties. We show that some well-known nonlinear modifications of quantum mechanics, namely the Deutsch's map, the Weinberg's model, and the Schrödinger - Newton equation, map a contextual set of states to a non-contextual one. That is, the considered nonlinear modifications of quantum theory allow for the existence of classical hidden variable models for certain experimental setups. This enables us to design experiments that would rule out the considered nonlinear modifications of quantum theory by verifying that the system remains contextual, or, equivalently, our results highlight a mechanism how nonlinear modification of quantum theory may lead to weak wave function collapse and ultimately to the solution of the measurement problem.
title Ruling out nonlinear modifications of quantum theory with contextuality
topic Quantum Physics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.04298