NDLI: Von Neumann’s ‘No Hidden Variables’ Proof: A Re-Appraisal

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Bub, Jeffrey
Copyright Year	2010
Abstract	Since the analysis by John Bell in 1965, the consensus in the literature is that von Neumann’s ‘no hidden variables’ proof fails to exclude any significant class of hidden variables. Bell raised the question whether it could be shown that any hidden variable theory would have to be nonlocal, and in this sense ‘like Bohm’s theory.’ His seminal result provides a positive answer to the question. I argue that Bell’s analysis misconstrues von Neumann’s argument. What von Neumann proved was the impossibility of recovering the quantum probabilities from a hidden variable theory of dispersion free (deterministic) states in which the quantum observables are represented as the ‘beables’ of the theory, to use Bell’s term. That is, the quantum probabilities could not reflect the distribution of pre-measurement values of beables, but would have to be derived in some other way, e.g., as in Bohm’s theory, where the probabilities are an artefact of a dynamical process that is not in fact a measurement of any beable of the system.
Starting Page	1333
Ending Page	1340
Page Count	8
File Format	PDF
ISSN	00159018
Journal	Foundations of Physics
Volume Number	40
Issue Number	9-10
e-ISSN	15729516
Language	English
Publisher	Springer US
Publisher Date	2010-06-11
Publisher Place	Boston
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Hidden variables von Neumann’s proof Foundations of quantum mechanics Philosophy of Science Mechanics Statistical Physics, Dynamical Systems and Complexity Classical and Quantum Gravitation, Relativity Theory Quantum Physics History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Physics and Astronomy

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