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Logic Journal of IGPL Advance Access originally published online on August 19, 2006
Logic Journal of IGPL 2006 14(3):435-455; doi:10.1093/jigpal/jzl018
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© The Author, 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

The Logic of Quantum Measurements in terms of Conditional Events

Philip Calabrese

Data Synthesis, 2919 Luna Avenue, San Diego, CA 92117, USA.

E-mail: pc{at}DataSynthesis.org

This paper shows that the non-Boolean logic of quantum measurements is more naturally represented by a relatively new 4-operation system of Boolean fractions—conditional events—than by the standard representation using Hilbert Space. After the requirements of quantum mechanics and the properties of conditional event algebra are introduced, the quantum concepts of orthogonality, completeness, simultaneous verifiability, logical operations, and deductions are expressed in terms of conditional events thereby demonstrating the adequacy and efficacy of this formulation. Since conditional event algebra is nearly Boolean and consists merely of ordered pairs of standard events or propositions, quantum events and the so-called "superpositions" of states need not be mysterious, and are here fully explicated. Conditional event algebra nicely explains these non-standard "superpositions" of quantum states as conjunctions or disjunctions of conditional events, Boolean fractions, but does not address the so-called "entanglement phenomena" of quantum mechanics, which remain physically mysterious. Nevertheless, separating the latter phenomena from superposition issues adds clarity to the interpretation of quantum entanglement, the phenomenon of influence propagated at faster than light speeds. With such treacherous possibilities present in all quantum situations, an observer has every reason to be completely explicit about the environmental–instrumental configuration, the conditions present when attempting quantum measurements. Conditional event algebra allows such explication without the physical and algebraic remoteness of Hilbert space.

Key Words: Boolean fractions • quantum logic • simultaneous verifiability • orthogonality


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