Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: There exist quantum phenomena that cannot be explained by noncontextual hidden-variable theories, yet the majority of them requires measurements that are performed on a single quantum system at a time. This fact constrains the phenomenon of contextuality to the microscopic domain. It is therefore natural to ask if quantum contextuality can be observed in measurements on collections of particles. Since particles in nature are identical, one can expect that such contextuality would be linked to bosonic and fermionic properties. Analysis of quantum contextuality in such scenarios would broaden our understanding of nonclassical effects in composite systems and perhaps would give us a hint on how to observe quantum phenomena in the macroscopic world. In this work I propose a generalization of quantum contextuality to the case of many identical particles. I show that a type of contextuality exhibited by a collection of particles (state dependent, state independent, or noncontextual) depends on their type and their number. I also discuss further properties of this generalization and identify major open questions.
Source: Physical Review A
Author: Paweł Kurzyński
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Narodowe Centrum Nauki
Award: G3796147673
OpenAlex ID: W2512822995