SciPost Physics Lecture Notes

SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 28 (2021) · published 31 March 2021

Part of the 2019-07: Quantum Information Machines Collection in the Les Houches Summer School Lecture Notes Series.

• doi: 10.21468/SciPostPhysLectNotes.28
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Abstract

These lecture notes provide a basic introduction to the framework of generalized probabilistic theories (GPTs) and a sketch of a reconstruction of quantum theory (QT) from simple operational principles. To build some intuition for how physics could be even more general than quantum, I present two conceivable phenomena beyond QT: superstrong nonlocality and higher-order interference. Then I introduce the framework of GPTs, generalizing both quantum and classical probability theory. Finally, I summarize a reconstruction of QT from the principles of Tomographic Locality, Continuous Reversibility, and the Subspace Axiom. In particular, I show why a quantum bit is described by a Bloch ball, why it is three-dimensional, and how one obtains the complex numbers and operators of the usual representation of QT.

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