1203.5622 (Corsin Pfister)

One simple postulate implies that every polytopic state space is
classical    [PDF]

Corsin Pfister

In order to find a physical axiomatization of quantum theory, physical theories are often considered as a special case of a much more general framework of generalized probabilistic theories. We first present a detailed introduction to generalized probabilistic theories before we examine new approaches towards a physical axiomatization of quantum theory. The main result of the thesis is that one postulate concerning post-measurement states (which have gained almost no attention in this context so far) is sufficient to rule out all probabilistic theories with a polytopic state space, except for classical theory. The postulate states that a measurement with a definite outcome does not alter the state. This rules out almost all toy theories considered so far, for instance the PR-box, but is compatible with quantum theory. Thus, this result can be seen as an approach towards a classification of quantum theory in physical terms. It only deals with local state spaces, in contrast to other approaches that are mostly concerned with nonlocality in composite systems.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1203.5622