Abstract
I argue that quantum mechanics is fundamentally a theory about the representation and manipulation of information, not a theory about the mechanics of nonclassical waves or particles. The notion of quantum information is to be understood as a new physical primitive---just as, following Einstein’s special theory of relativity, a field is no longer regarded as the physical manifestation of vibrations in a mechanical medium, but recognized as a new physical entity in its own right.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
J. T. Cushing (1994) Quantum Mechanics: Historical Contingency and the Copenhgen Hegemony University of Chicago Press Chicago
J. T. Cushing (1998) Philosophical Concepts in Physics Cambridge University Press Cambridge Occurrence Handle0951.01010
J. T. Cushing A. Fine S. Goldstein (Eds) (1996) Bohmian Mechanics and Quantum Theory: An Appriaisal Kluwer Dordrecht
D. Bohm B. J. Hiley (1993) The Undivided Universe: An Ontological Interpretation of Quantum Theory Routledge London
S. Goldstein, ‘‘Bohmian mechanics’’, in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, E. N. Zalta, ed., http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qm-Bohm.
A. Einstein, ‘‘What is the theory of relativity’’, First published in The Times, London (November 28, 1919), p. 13. Also in A. Einstein, Ideas and Opinions (Bonanza Books, New York, 1954), pp. 227–232.
A. Einstein, ‘‘Autobiographical notes’’, in Albert Einstein: Philosopher–Scientist, P. A. Schilpp, ed. (Open Court, La Salle, IL, 1949), pp. 3.
M. J. Klein (1967) ArticleTitleThermodynamics in Einstein’s thought Science 157 509–516 Occurrence Handle1967Sci...157..509K
H. A. Lorentz (1909) The Theory of Electrons Columbia University Press New York
N. Landsman (1998) Mathematical Topics Between Classical and Quantum Mechanics Springer New York
A. Connes (1994) Noncommutative Geometry Academic Press San Diego Occurrence Handle0818.46076
E. Schrödinger (1935) ArticleTitleDiscussion of probability relations between separated systems Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 31 555–563
J. Bub, ‘‘Why the Quantum?’’ Stud. Hist. Philos. Modern Phys. 35B, 241–266 (2004).
R. Clifton J. Bub H. Halvorson (2003) ArticleTitleCharacterizing quantum theory in terms of information-theoretic constraints Found. Phys. 33 1561–1591 Occurrence Handle2039611
H. Halvorson, ‘‘A note on information-theoretic characterizations of physical theories’’, quant-ph/0310101.
H. Halvorson and J. Bub, ‘‘Can quantum cryptography imply quantum mechanics? Reply to Smolin’’, quant-ph/0311065.
H. Halvorson, ‘‘Generalization of the Hughston–Jozsa–Wootters theorem to hyperfinite von Neumann algebras’’, quant-ph/031001.
L. J. Landau (1987) ArticleTitleOn the violation of Bell’s inequality in quantum theory Phys. Lett. A 120 54–56 Occurrence Handle1987PhLA..120...54L Occurrence Handle879718
S. Summers (1990) ArticleTitleOn the independence of local algebras in quantum field theory Rev. in Math. Phys. 2 201–247 Occurrence Handle0743.46079 Occurrence Handle1990RvMaP...2..201S Occurrence Handle1090281
G. Bacciagaluppi, ‘‘Separation theorems and Bell inequalities in Algebraic Quantum Mechanics’’, in Symposium on the Foundations of Modern Physics 1993: Quantum Measurement, Irreversibility and the Physics of Information, P. Busch, P. Lahti, and P. Mittelstaedt, eds. (World Scientific, Singapore, 1994), pp. 29–37.
C. H. Bennett and G. Brassard, ‘‘Quantum cryptography: public key distribution and coin tossing’’, in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Computers, Systems, and Signal Processing, (IEEE, New York, 1984), pp. 175–179.
D. Mayers, ‘‘Unconditionally secure quantum bit commitment is impossible’’, in Proceedings of the Fourth Workshop on Physics and Computation (New England Complex System Institute, Boston, 1996), pp. 224–228.
D. Mayers (1997) ArticleTitleUnconditionally secure quantum bit commitment is impossible Phys. Rev. Lett. 78 3414–3417 Occurrence Handle1997PhRvL..78.3414M
H. -K. Lo H. F. Chau (1997) ArticleTitleIs quantum bit commitment really possible? Phys. Rev. Lett. 78 3410–3413 Occurrence Handle1997PhRvL..78.3410L
L. P. Hughston R. Jozsa W. K. Wootters (1993) ArticleTitleA complete classification of quantum ensembles having a given density matrix Phys. Lett. A 183 14–18 Occurrence Handle1993PhLA..183...14H Occurrence Handle1248347
E. Schrödinger (1936) ArticleTitleProbability relations between separated systems Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 32 446–452 Occurrence Handle10.1017/S0305004100019137
J. Bub (2001) ArticleTitleThe Bit Commitment Theorem Found. Phys. 31 735–756 Occurrence Handle1852993
A. Kent (1999) ArticleTitleUnconditionally secure bit commitment Phys. Rev. Lett. 83 1447–1450 Occurrence Handle1999PhRvL..83.1447K Occurrence Handle1728096
A. Valentini, ‘‘Subquantum information and computation’’, quantu-ph/0203049.
J. S. Bell (1987) Beables for quantum field theory J. S. Bell (Eds) Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics Cambridge University Press Cambridge 173–180
W. Pauli (1954) letter to M. Born dated March 30, 1954 M. Born (Eds) The Born-Einstein Letters Walker and Co London 218
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bub, J. Quantum Mechanics is About Quantum Information. Found Phys 35, 541–560 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-004-2010-x
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-004-2010-x