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For the Kraus operators of the measurement in quantum mechanics, the Born rule givesThe density matrix $A_i\rho A_i^{†}$ is the unnormalized state of that outcome. It is positive, its trace is $p_i$, and completeness gives ${\sum }_i{p}_i=\mathrm{Tr}\rho =1$. There is no conditional state to assign to an event with $p_i=0$.

For a projective measurement, each $P_i$ is an orthogonal projection, satisfying $P_i=P_i^{†}=P_i^2$. Completeness becomes ${\sum }_i{P}_i=I$. Fix $v$ in the range of $P_j$. ThenSince $P_{j}v=v$, the $j$th summand already equals $\Vert v{\Vert }^2$. All other summands are nonnegative, so $P_{i}v=0$ for $i\ne j$. Consequently $P_i{P}_j=0$, and taking adjoints also gives $P_j{P}_i=0$. This proves the stronger completeness forces orthogonality of measurement projections:

For the unitary dilation of a measurement instrument, take a quantum ancilla with orthonormal states $|0⟩,|1⟩,\dots ,|n⟩$, initially in $|0⟩$. DefineThe completeness equation impliesso $V$ is an isometry. Its action on the input subspace can be extended to a unitary operator $U$ on the enlarged system:Choose orthonormal bases in the two complementary subspaces and map one to the other. Their dimensions agree; the extra unused quantum ancilla level also ensures this extension is possible for an infinite-dimensional system. After the coupling, the joint density matrix is

Now perform a projective measurement on the larger system, withThese are pairwise orthogonal and sum to the full identity. The unused $|0⟩$ level has zero weight in $\Omega$, so merging it into outcome one adds no probability. For every $i$,Its trace is $p_i$, and taking the partial trace over the quantum ancilla after normalization gives exactly ${\rho }_i$. Hence unitary coupling to an quantum ancilla, a projective measurement, and discarding the quantum ancilla reproduce both the probabilities and the conditional states of the general measurement. This is the instrument version of a Stinespring dilation, rather than a construction reproducing only the outcome probabilities.

The terminal term $\mathcal{A}$ is the objective reward. With the Hilbert-Schmidt inner product $⟨⟨A|\rho ⟩⟩=\mathrm{Tr}(A^{†}\rho )$, a Hermitian target observable gives its final expected value. The vector ${\rho }_v$ is the density operator represented as a vector in operator space; it retains the same physical content as the density matrix, not a wavefunction of the system.

The term $\mathcal{D}$ imposes the dynamical equation by a time-dependent costate $A_v$. It is a Lagrange-multiplier operator in the same operator space, propagated backward from a terminal condition. It is not required to be a positive, trace-one density matrix. DefineThen the enforced state equation is ${\dot{\rho }}_v=K[f]{\rho }_v$. The uncontrolled coherent part is ${\mathcal{L}}_0$, the dissipative contribution is ${\mathcal{L}}_D$, and each $f_m{\mathcal{L}}_m$ describes a control coupling. For Quantum Hamiltonian control, ${\mathcal{L}}_m\rho =[H_m,\rho ]$.

The term $\mathcal{C}$ is a quadratic field-energy or fluence penalty. For the positive scale $p_0$ and positive weights ${\lambda }_m$, larger ${\lambda }_m$ make a given control amplitude more costly. Thus maximizing $J$ trades terminal performance against control fluence while enforcing the dynamics. The multiplier term vanishes on any dynamically feasible trajectory. The weights do not represent decoherence rates; they specify control-resource preferences.

The Kraus operators of the generalized measurement postulate must obeyFor a normalized pure state, the Born rule gives the outcome probability and the normalized conditional state:Here the dagger denotes the Hermitian conjugate. Completeness ensures ${\sum }_i{p}_i=1$. An outcome with $p_i=0$ never occurs for that input, so no conditional state is required there. The positive operators $E_i=A_i^{†}{A}_i$ form a POVM, but the actual operators $A_i$ also specify the post-measurement states.

Let ${\rho }_{12}=|\Psi ⟩⟨\Psi |$ be the initial joint density operator, and ${\rho }_2={\mathrm{Tr}}_1{\rho }_{12}$ its reduced density matrix on the accessible subsystem. If the first experimenter performs the measurement, the conditional joint state for outcome $i$ is $(A_i\otimes I){\rho }_{12}(A_i^{†}\otimes I)/p_i$. The second experimenter does not know that outcome. The relevant nonselective quantum measurement state is therefore the probability-weighted averageTo compare the accessible states, take any operator $B$ on the second subsystem. Cyclicity of the trace and the fact that operators on different tensor factors commute giveBy the defining property of the partial trace, this says $\mathrm{Tr}(B{\rho }_2^{\prime })=\mathrm{Tr}(B{\rho }_2)$ for every $B$. Matrix units, or arbitrary Hermitian test operators, distinguish any two different density matrices, soThis proves remote state invariance under a local trace-preserving operation directly from completeness.

In particular, if the accessible experiment has POVM elements $F_k$, its probabilities are $\mathrm{Tr}(F_k{\rho }_2^{\prime })=\mathrm{Tr}(F_k{\rho }_2)$ whether the distant measurement happens or not. Attaching an independent local ancilla, evolving locally, or performing a sequence of local measurements cannot help: these operations act on the identical input density operator and therefore give identical outcome distributions. No experiment confined to the second subsystem can distinguish whether the unannounced measurement occurred. This is a derivation of the no-communication theorem, not an appeal to a signalling postulate.

The qualification is that the outcome is not communicated. A selective quantum measurement can give different conditional remote states, as happens when measuring one half of a Bell state; their probability-weighted average is still ${\rho }_2$. An observer supplied with the distant outcome has extra classical information and is no longer restricted to the unannounced local experiment considered here.

Use base-two logarithms, so entanglement entropy is measured in bits. Write $h_2(p)=-p{\log }_{2}p-(1-p){\log }_2(1-p)$ for the binary entropy, with $0{\log }_{2}0=0$. Taking a partial trace over any two parties removes the off-diagonal terms: the two traced strings are orthogonal. Consequently all three one-party reduced density matrices of the first pure state areEach division into two groups is one party versus the other two. The Schmidt coefficients are $\sqrt{p}$ and $\sqrt{1-p}$, so the entanglement entropy across each of $A:BC$, $B:AC$ and $C:AB$ is $h_2(p)$. For the second pure state, set $p=1/2$: every one-party reduced density matrix is $I/2$, and all three entanglement entropies are one bit.

For every pair $XY$, the first pure state instead gives the reduced density matrixThis is a separable quantum state, explicitly a convex combination of two product states. Its relative entropy of entanglement is therefore zero: in $E_R(\rho )={\inf }_{\sigma \in \mathrm{Sep}}D(\rho \Vert \sigma )$, choose $\sigma =\rho$ to attain zero, while nonnegativity of quantum relative entropy excludes a negative value. The same argument with equal weights applies to the second pure state. ThusThe pairwise density matrices contain classical correlations, despite the entanglement of the global pure state; discarding a party loses the coherence between its two branches.

The entanglement entropy of $n$ independent source copies across any cut is $n{h}_2(p)$, whereas $f(n)$ copies of the target GHZ state have entanglement entropy $f(n)$. Average monotonicity of pure-state entanglement entropy under LOCC gives $P(n)f(n)\le n{h}_2(p)$ for exact successful forward branches. In a reversible asymptotic conversion the reverse direction similarly prevents a first-order deficit, since $n^{\prime }/n\to 1$. For asymptotically faithful outputs, a continuity bound for quantum conditional entropy with trivial conditioning changes these inequalities only by $o(n)$. Hence the reversible leading-order rate isThe zero pairwise relative entropies of entanglement are consistent with this conversion: no independent pairwise resource has to be supplied or removed.

There is a qualification to the literal finite-block formulation in the source. For $0<p<1$, the Schmidt rank of the exact state of $n^{\prime }$ source copies is $2^{n^{\prime }}$, whereas $f$ target GHZ states have Schmidt rank $2^f$. Every refined LOCC branch acts by a product of local linear operators and cannot increase this Schmidt rank. For $p\ne 1/2$, the displayed rate has $f<n^{\prime }$ for sufficiently large blocks when $n^{\prime }/n\to 1$, so an exact successful reverse conversion is impossible, irrespective of its claimed probability. The exact dilution obstruction from Schmidt rank is avoided in the usual asymptotic formulation by allowing outputs approaching the desired pure state. The leading-order rate above and the exact forward protocol below remain valid; neither establishes the source's stronger exact round-trip claim. At $p=1/2$ the two states are identical. At $p=0$ or $1$, the source is a known product state, the rate is zero, and local preparation supplies any desired number of source copies.

Use base-two logarithms throughout, so classical rates are measured in bits and quantum compression rates in qubits. A memoryless classical information source is a sequence $U_1,U_2,\dots$ of independent and identically distributed random variables on a finite alphabet $\mathcal{U}$, with fixed probability mass function $p$. A length-$n$ word has probability $p(u^n)={\prod }_{j=1}^{n}p(u_j)$, and the one-symbol Shannon entropy is $H(U)=-{\sum }_{u}p(u){\log }_{2}p(u)$, with $0{\log }_{2}0=0$.

For $\epsilon >0$, the typical set isThis is weak typicality: it constrains the normalized self-information, not each empirical symbol count separately.

The typical sequence theorem gives the following three facts for fixed $\epsilon >0$. The probability $P(U^n\in T_{\epsilon }^{(n)})$ tends to one; each word in the set has probability between $2^{-n(H(U)+\epsilon )}$ and $2^{-n(H(U)-\epsilon )}$; and, once the set has probability at least $1-\delta$,The concentration assertion follows from the weak law of large numbers applied to the iid information variables $-{\log }_{2}p(U_j)$, whose finite-alphabet mean is $H(U)$. The probability bounds are the definition of typicality exponentiated. Summing the lower bound over the typical words and using total probability at most one proves the cardinality upper bound; summing the upper bound and using total typical probability at least $1-\delta$ proves the lower bound.

Fix $R>H(U)$ and choose $0<\epsilon <R-H(U)$. Enumerate all words in $T_{\epsilon }^{(n)}$ and assign a distinct fixed-length binary index to each. Reserve one more index as a failure symbol for every atypical input. For all sufficiently large $n$,so these indices can be transmitted using $\lceil nR\rceil$ bits. The decoder inverts the typical-word enumeration; on the failure index it returns any fixed word. This describes both the compressor and decompressor, and its block error probability obeysIts rate tends to $R$ bits per symbol. Thus every $R>H(U)$ permits reliable fixed-rate compression, with no claim that atypical words are reconstructed correctly.

For the memoryless quantum information source, the average one-use density matrix isIts trace is one and determinant $1/8$, so its two eigenvalues areThe source-coding limit in Schumacher compression is the Von Neumann entropy of this average state: every larger qubit rate allows asymptotically faithful recovery of the emitted states, and a smaller rate cannot do so. Applying that limit giveswhere $h_2(t)=-t{\log }_{2}t-(1-t){\log }_2(1-t)$ is the binary entropy. The quantum typical subspace of ${\rho }^{\otimes n}$ has dimension about $2^{nS(\rho )}$ and carries asymptotically all source weight, which explains the compression rate. The entropy of the classical emission label is one bit; it is not the quantum rate because the two emitted pure states are nonorthogonal.

For probability distributions $p$ and $q$ on a finite alphabet, their classical relative entropy in bits isA zero-$p$ term contributes zero, including when $q(x)=0$; a term with $p(x)>0$ and $q(x)=0$ makes the result $+\infty$. In that infinite case nonnegativity is immediate. Otherwise $q(x)>0$ on the support $J_p$ of $p$. For every $u>0$, $\ln u\le u-1$: the function $u-1-\ln u$ has derivative $1-1/u$ and its minimum zero at $u=1$. Apply this with $u=q(x)/p(x)$ to obtainThe last inequality uses normalization of $q$. Thus $\boxed{D(p\Vert q)\ge 0}$. Equality requires $q(x)=p(x)$ wherever $p(x)>0$ and no $q$-mass outside that support, hence occurs precisely when $p=q$.

For density matrices, usewhen the support of a positive operator $\rho$ is contained in that of $\sigma$, and set it to $+\infty$ otherwise. The data-processing inequality for quantum relative entropy states that for any quantum channel $\Phi$,Thus the relative entropy of the two output states cannot exceed that of the inputs.

For the states with a classical flag, omit indices of weight zero. On a positive-weight block, the matrix logarithms obeyon the relevant supports. The logarithms of $p_i$ cancel. Taking the trace block by block therefore gives the relative entropy of classically flagged states:If support inclusion fails in a positive-weight block, both sides are infinite. A zero-weight block makes no contribution, even if its unweighted relative entropy is infinite.

Tracing out the flag is a quantum channel with operators $A_i=⟨i|\otimes I$, since ${\sum }_i{A}_i^{†}{A}_i=I$. It sends the two flagged states to ${\sum }_i{p}_i{\rho }_i$ and ${\sum }_i{p}_i{\sigma }_i$. Applying the data-processing inequality for quantum relative entropy to this partial trace proves joint convexity of quantum relative entropy:

For a bipartite state, set ${\rho }_A={\mathrm{Tr}}_B{\rho }_{AB}$ and ${\rho }_B={\mathrm{Tr}}_A{\rho }_{AB}$. Its quantum mutual information iswhere $S(\tau )=-\mathrm{Tr}\tau {\log }_2\tau$ is the Von Neumann entropy. The support of ${\rho }_{AB}$ lies in $\mathrm{supp}{\rho }_A\otimes \mathrm{supp}{\rho }_B$. To justify this when marginals are singular, let $Q_A$ project onto $\ker {\rho }_A$. Then $\mathrm{Tr}[(Q_A\otimes I){\rho }_{AB}]=\mathrm{Tr}(Q_A{\rho }_A)=0$; positivity implies $(Q_A\otimes I){\rho }_{AB}=0$. Applying the same argument on $B$ proves the claimed support inclusion.

On that support, product eigenvectors showThe definition of the partial trace therefore givesConsequently $\boxed{S(A:B)=S({\rho }_{AB}\Vert {\rho }_A\otimes {\rho }_B)}$.

For completeness, nonnegativity of quantum relative entropy also follows from the classical proof above. Diagonalize $\rho$ in a basis $|j⟩$, with eigenvalues $r_j$, and put $q_j=⟨j|\sigma |j⟩$. These are two classical probability distributions. Scalar concavity of the logarithm applied to the spectral weights of $\sigma$ gives $⟨j|{\log }_2\sigma |j⟩\le {\log }_2{q}_j$ whenever $r_j>0$ and support inclusion holds. HenceThe support-failure case is again infinite. Applying this to the product of the marginals proves $\boxed{S(A:B)\ge 0}$ without requiring an additional entropy inequality.

Take the vectors in the quantum state ensemble to be normalized, with $p_i\ge 0$ and ${\sum }_i{p}_i=1$. The corresponding density matrix isEach rank-one projector is a self-adjoint operator, so ${\rho }^{†}=\rho$. For every $|v⟩$ in the Hilbert space,proving that $\rho$ is positive semidefinite. The trace is $\mathrm{Tr}\rho ={\sum }_i{p}_i⟨{\psi }_i|{\psi }_i⟩=1$.

Conversely, diagonalize a self-adjoint operator $\rho$ in an orthonormal eigenbasis, writing $\rho ={\sum }_j{\lambda }_j|e_j⟩⟨e_j|$. Its positive semidefiniteness implies ${\lambda }_j=⟨e_j|\rho |e_j⟩\ge 0$, and its unit trace gives ${\sum }_j{\lambda }_j=1$. Thus $\{{\lambda }_j,|e_j⟩\}$ is a quantum state ensemble with precisely this density matrix. Terms with zero eigenvalue may be omitted. This argument includes rank-one pure states; an ensemble representation need not describe a genuinely mixed state.

The stated condition is the definition of an extreme point in the convex set of density matrices. Suppose first that $\rho =|\psi ⟩⟨\psi |$ with $\Vert \psi \Vert =1$, and consider any convex combination $\rho ={\sum }_i{a}_i{\rho }_i$ with all $a_i>0$. For every $|w⟩$ orthogonal to $|\psi ⟩$,Every term is nonnegative, so $⟨w|{\rho }_i|w⟩=0$ for each $i$. To see that this implies ${\rho }_{i}w=0$, expand ${\rho }_i={\sum }_j{\mu }_j|u_j⟩⟨u_j|$, ${\mu }_j\ge 0$. The equality ${\sum }_j{\mu }_j|⟨u_j|w⟩{|}^2=0$ implies ${\mu }_j⟨u_j|w⟩=0$ for every $j$, which kills ${\rho }_{i}w$. Thus each density matrix ${\rho }_i$ vanishes on ${\psi }^{\perp }$. By self-adjointness its range lies in the line $\mathbb{C}\psi$, so ${\rho }_i=c_i|\psi ⟩⟨\psi |$. Its unit trace forces $c_i=1$, establishing the required purity.

Conversely, suppose $\rho$ is not rank one. In its spectral decomposition, at least two eigenvalues are positive. Select a normalized eigenvector $|e_1⟩$ with positive eigenvalue ${\lambda }_1$; then $0<{\lambda }_1<1$. DefineThe remaining eigenvalues show that $\sigma$ is a density matrix. The decomposition $\rho ={\lambda }_1|e_1⟩⟨e_1|+(1-{\lambda }_1)\sigma$ is a convex combination of two different density matrices, neither equal to $\rho$. This violates the given purity condition. Hence the extreme points of the density-operator state space obey

Let $R=|\psi ⟩⟨\psi |$ and choose an orthonormal basis $\{|e_{\mu }⟩\}$ of ${\mathcal{H}}_2$. The reduced density matrix on $S_1$ is the partial traceHere $I_1$ is the identity on ${\mathcal{H}}_1$, and the bras and kets in the sum contract only the second tensor factor. Equivalently, if $|\psi ⟩={\sum }_{a,\mu }{c}_{a\mu }|f_a⟩\otimes |e_{\mu }⟩$, then $({\rho }_1{)}_{ab}={\sum }_{\mu }{c}_{a\mu }{c}_{b\mu }^{\ast }$. The definition is independent of the chosen basis: it is characterized by $\mathrm{Tr}(M{\rho }_1)=\mathrm{Tr}[(M\otimes I_2)R]$ for every operator $M$ on ${\mathcal{H}}_1$.

The generalized measurement postulate takes $A_i$ to be operators on ${\mathcal{H}}_2$ satisfying ${\sum }_i{A}_i^{†}{A}_i=I_2$. The Born rule and the conditional state update giveIf the outcome is not supplied to $S_1$, the appropriate post-measurement density matrix is $R^{\prime }={\sum }_i(I_1\otimes A_i)R(I_1\otimes A_i^{†})$. For any local operator $M$, cyclicity of the full trace givesSince this holds for every $M$, $\boxed{{\mathrm{Tr}}_2{R}^{\prime }={\rho }_1}$. This is the no-communication theorem.

The invariance concerns the nonselective measurement in quantum mechanics. A conditional reduced density matrix ${\rho }_{1|i}={\mathrm{Tr}}_2|{\psi }_i⟩⟨{\psi }_i|$ can change, although ${\sum }_i{p}_i{\rho }_{1|i}={\rho }_1$. For example, measuring one half of a Bell pair in the computational basis changes the other half conditionally to $|0⟩$ or $|1⟩$; before learning the outcome, its density matrix remains $I/2$. Thus distant measurement in quantum measurements cannot transmit a controllable signal without classical communication. This quantum no-signalling is compatible with special relativity, even though some entangled states have correlations incompatible with a local hidden-variable theory.

A secure key can be produced, at one ideal secret bit per copy. Denote Alice's additional flag qubit by $F$. Alice can measure $F$ in the computational basis and, when its outcome is $1$, apply the Pauli Z gate to her half of the shared pair. The two flag outcomes each have probability $1/2$, and $Z_A|{\Phi }^{-}⟩=|{\Phi }^{+}⟩$; either branch therefore supplies the same pure Bell pair.

Equivalently, Alice applies the local controlled unitaryThis local flag correction of a Bell-state phase mixture changes the full density matrix intoThe corrected pair is pure, so every purification factors between $AB$ and $FE$. Eve may know the flag without knowing the key bit obtained from $AB$. Alice need not disclose the flag, but even disclosing it does not compromise the corrected pure Bell pair. Tracing out the flag before correction would give the nonprivate mixture in the preceding case; retaining Alice's local side information is essential.

Impossible to implement as written: Bob is never given the basis string. Step 7 requires him to know which incoming qubits were acted on by a Hadamard gate, but the announcement contains only the check positions. Since $H^{-1}=H$, knowing that a transformation is its own inverse does not identify which qubits need it.

Bob cannot recover the missing information from the qubits alone. For each encoded Bell pair, his reduced density matrix isfor either $b=0$ or $b=1$. His entire received register has the same density matrix $I/2^{2n}$ for every string $b$, so every local measurement in quantum mechanics has statistics independent of $b$. Nor can one fixed unitary undo both possibilities: preserving $|{\Phi }^{+}⟩$ requires that unitary to be proportional to $I$, whereas decoding $(I\otimes H)|{\Phi }^{+}⟩$ requires it to be proportional to $H$. Supplying the missing basis announcement after receipt would repair the protocol and make it the third one, but that communication is absent from the printed sequence.

The Born rule assigns $p_i=⟨\psi |P_i|\psi ⟩$ to a projective measurement with projection operators $P_i$. Its numerical form can be shared by theories while the source of the probabilities differs. Comparing Bohmian mechanics, the GRW model and the many-worlds interpretation exposes three different roles: uncertainty over actual configurations, fundamental stochastic events, and weights for branch-relative expectation.

In Bohmian mechanics, the Schrödinger equation implies a probability continuity equation for $|\Psi {|}^2$ with current $j$, while the guidance equation transports an ensemble density $\rho$ with velocity $v=j/|\Psi {|}^2$:Thus $\rho =|\Psi {|}^2$ is preserved: quantum equilibrium equivariance. If an apparatus interaction produces disjoint configuration regions ${\Gamma }_i$ with occupied-branch norm $|c_i|$, integrating the equilibrium distribution gives $\mathrm{Pr}(Q\in {\Gamma }_i)=|c_i{|}^2$. The actual outcome is fixed by initial configuration; the distribution describes the typical or uncertain configuration, not a fundamental random collapse. Equivariance alone does not prove equilibrium initially: every admissible density is transported by the velocity field. A typicality account privileges the equivariant $|\Psi {|}^2$ measure and then explains subsystem statistics conditionally; that explanatory premise must not be hidden in the continuity equation.^[ref]

In the GRW model, the centre law $p(X)=\Vert L_i(X)\Psi {\Vert }^2$ is part of the stochastic dynamics. Since $\int L_i(X{)}^{†}{L}_i(X)dX=I$, it is normalized. For two well-separated correlated pointer packets with coefficients $a,b$, integration over centres around their respective occupied regions gives approximately $|a{|}^2,|b{|}^2$; cross-contributions are suppressed at separations large compared with $r_C$. This explains why macroscopic records follow the Born rule approximately, without a special postulate applying only when an observer measures. However, the squared-norm centre law already carries the relevant mathematical probability structure. The theory relocates the rule into a universal physical law; it does not derive all probabilities from a deterministic equation. There are also small predicted deviations from standard unitary quantum mechanics.^[ref]

In the many-worlds interpretation, every nonzero decohering component persists, so the question is not which single global branch will survive. It is why a rational observer should use branch weight $|c_i{|}^2$ for expectation or caring about successor records. Equal-amplitude symmetry and decision theory motivate equal weights for physically equivalent alternatives. For rational $|c_i{|}^2=m_i/M$, an ancillary refinement into $m_i$ equal-norm alternatives can motivate weight $m_i/M$, followed by continuity for other amplitudes. This argument requires assumptions that refining irrelevant details does not change value, that preferences respect the relevant quantum symmetries, and that weight tracks the intended notion of expectation. Those are substantive premises, not consequences of branch existence alone.^[ref]

Naive branch counting is unsuitable: decoherence yields approximate, refinement-dependent branches, and splitting one record into more environmental records should not change its weight. Nor is diagonality of a density matrix already an account of probability. The comparison therefore has no common derivation from bare formalism. Bohmian mechanics needs a justified equilibrium or typicality measure, GRW model needs a justified stochastic law, and an Everettian account needs a justified connection from branch structure and rationality to experienced statistics. Each offers a coherent location for the Born rule; the remaining explanatory costs differ.

The postulates of quantum mechanics give a framework for predicting observations from a prepared state. The experiments below motivate different features of that framework; no one experiment proves the whole set of postulates or specifies every Hamiltonian operator.

A pure quantum state is a normalized vector in a complex Hilbert space, with vectors differing by an overall quantum phase representing the same physical preparation. In position representation, $\int |\psi (\mathbf{r}){|}^2{d}^{3}r=1$. The linear state space permits quantum superposition, while the Born rule assigns probability ${\int }_{\Omega }|\psi {|}^2{d}^{3}r$ to a position outcome in a region $\Omega$. The wavefunction is a probability amplitude; it is not a classical distribution of definite particle positions and momenta.

An observable is represented by a self-adjoint operator. If $Q$ has spectral projectors $P_q$, its possible measurement outcomes are its spectral values and $\mathrm{Pr}(q)=⟨\psi |P_q|\psi ⟩$. The mean is $⟨Q⟩=⟨\psi |Q|\psi ⟩$. For an ideal repeatable projective measurement, obtaining $q$ leaves the normalized conditional state $P_q\psi /\sqrt{\mathrm{Pr}(q)}$. This projects onto an entire eigenspace if the outcome is degenerate. General detectors need more general measurement in quantum mechanics models; the projective update is an idealization. Noncommuting observables need not have simultaneous sharp values, as the canonical commutation relation and Heisenberg uncertainty relation illustrate.

Between measurements, an isolated system has unitary time evolution generated by its Hamiltonian operator:This preserves normalization and superpositions. Composite systems use a tensor product of state spaces, allowing entangled states as well as product states; identical particles additionally require the bosonic or fermionic exchange symmetry appropriate to their species. Statistical mixtures are described by a density matrix, with $\mathrm{Pr}(q)=\mathrm{tr}(\rho P_q)$. These rules separate preparation, coherent evolution and measurement.

The photoelectric effect exposes discrete energy transfer by light. Illuminate a clean metal cathode in an evacuated tube and measure the collected electron current while varying the light frequency, intensity and a retarding voltage. The stopping potential $V_s$ probes the largest emitted electron kinetic energy, whereas the photocurrent measures the rate at which charge is collected. In the ordinary single-photon regime there is a threshold frequency; above it the maximum energy grows with frequency, rather than with intensity. Changing intensity at fixed frequency mainly changes the number of emitted electrons. These observations are summarized by the Einstein photoelectric equationHere $\Phi$ is the surface work function, and the stopping voltage is understood after any photoelectric contact-potential correction. A photon delivers $h\nu$ in an absorption event; emission is allowed only when that energy can pay the escape cost. This accounts for the frequency threshold and the lack of the classical waiting time associated with slowly accumulating energy in a single electron. The experiment supports energy quantization of light; it does not imply that every incident photon emits an electron or that every emitted electron has the maximum energy. Surface losses and collection geometry affect the full current-voltage curve.

The Davisson–Germer experiment demonstrates a complementary wave property of matter. An electron gun uses a heated emitter, accelerating voltage and apertures to send a narrow beam onto a nickel single crystal in vacuum. A movable collector measures scattered electric current versus direction; rotating the crystal also tests its azimuthal symmetry. The crystal gives sharp angular beams whose positions depend on voltage and crystal orientation. A prominent feature occurs near $54\mathrm{V}$ accelerating voltage and roughly $50^{\circ }$ detector colatitude. The nonrelativistic de Broglie wavelength predicted at that voltage isDiffraction wavelengths inferred using the known crystal structure agree with this voltage dependence. These angular peaks arise from coherent addition of scattering amplitudes from the crystal, not from classical specular reflection of independent point projectiles. Bragg's law is $2d\sin {\theta }_B=r\lambda$ for lattice-plane spacing $d$ and angle to those planes; a detector colatitude is a different angle and must not be substituted without its geometry. The historical readout was current, not a photograph of individual electron trajectories.^[ref]

The double-slit experiment makes the role of amplitudes especially direct. A coherent source illuminates two narrow slits; an observation screen a distance $D$ away records the pattern. For slit spacing $d$ and small screen displacement $y$, the path difference is approximately $dy/D$. The two amplitudes add before probabilities are formed:For equal coherent illumination the interference term varies as $\cos (2\pi dy/(\lambda D))$, giving fringe spacing $\lambda D/d$ beneath the single-slit diffraction envelope. Blocking one slit removes that cross term. Young's optical experiment established wave interference; later particle-resolved realizations with photons or electrons show localized detection events whose accumulated distribution has the interference pattern. Low arrival rates demonstrate that this pattern does not require different incident particles to collide with one another.

If the paths become correlated with distinguishable detector states $|D_1⟩$ and $|D_2⟩$, the cross term acquires their overlap $⟨D_2|D_1⟩$. Perfectly distinguishable path records make that overlap zero, suppressing interference even if the spatial beams still overlap. This connects quantum entanglement, measurement and loss of observable coherence. Without a path measurement, the two alternatives are amplitudes for one preparation, rather than classical mutually exclusive events whose probabilities may simply be added.

Together these experiments motivate a description in which energy transfer and detector outcomes can be discrete, yet propagation retains complex quantum phases and interference. The Born rule connects those amplitudes to repeatable frequencies of outcomes. The Schrödinger equation supplies the dynamics once a Hamiltonian operator is specified, while observable operators, state preparation and the measurement model specify what the apparatus can read.

An observable is represented by a self-adjoint operator. For an ideal projective measurement, let $P_a$ be its spectral projector for outcome $a$. The Born rule gives $p(a)=⟨\psi |P_a|\psi ⟩$, or $p(a)=\mathrm{tr}(\rho P_a)$ for a density matrix $\rho$. Conditional on obtaining $a$, the Lüders rule givesFor a degenerate outcome this projects onto the whole associated eigenspace, rather than arbitrarily selecting a vector within it. An immediate repeated ideal measurement returns the same outcome, provided there is no intervening evolution or disturbance.

Commuting finite-dimensional observables admit a common orthonormal eigenbasis; their projectors commute and ideal joint measurements are compatible. Noncommuting observables generally have no complete common eigenbasis, and measurement order can affect the subsequent statistics. Particular common eigenvectors can nevertheless exist, so a nonzero commutator does not mean that every state has a nonzero uncertainty in both quantities.

For a quantitative constraint, apply the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality to $(A-⟨A⟩)|\psi ⟩$ and $(B-⟨B⟩)|\psi ⟩$. The imaginary part of their inner product is $⟨[A,B]⟩/(2i)$, giving the Robertson uncertainty principleThe canonical commutation relation $[x,p]=i\hslash$ gives $\Delta x\Delta p\ge \hslash /2$. Retaining the real part of the same inner product gives the stronger Robertson-Schrödinger uncertainty relation, including a covariance term. These are constraints on the preparation of a quantum state, not simply statements about a poorly calibrated instrument.

A sequential spin one-half example makes the change in statistics explicit. Prepare $|+z⟩$. An immediate $S_z$ measurement is certainly positive. If an $S_x$ measurement is inserted first, its outcomes each have probability $1/2$ and leave states $|\pm x⟩$. Each then yields either $S_z$ result with probability $1/2$, so the final positive fraction is $1/2$. The change reflects projection onto incompatible spin eigenstates, even with ideal measuring apparatus. The theory of measurement in quantum mechanics allows more general state-update rules, but the operator description and the Born rule still constrain their probabilities.

For a uniform time-independent saddle, extremizing the action gives $(-\mu +g|{\psi }_0{|}^2){\psi }_0=0$. Its grand-potential density is $f(\rho )=-\mu \rho +g{\rho }^2/2$, with $\rho =|{\psi }_0{|}^2\ge 0$. Since $g>0$, the minimum at positive density for $\mu >0$ isFor $\mu \le 0$ the uniform mean-field minimum is the vacuum, rather than a positive-density condensate. At fixed nonzero density in the weakly interacting condensed regime, the saddle relation sets $\mu \simeq g{\rho }_0$. The mean-field one-body density matrix factorizes as $⟨a^{†}(\mathbf{r})a({\mathbf{r}}^{\prime })⟩\simeq {\rho }_0$, giving macroscopic occupation of the uniform mode. Depletion corrections are omitted at this stage.

The action has the global particle-number symmetry $\psi \mapsto e^{i\alpha }\psi$, $\bar{\psi }\mapsto e^{-i\alpha }\bar{\psi }$. Choosing one saddle phase breaks this $U(1)$ symmetry; the degenerate mean-field minima form the circle $U(1)\simeq S^1$. There is no energetic preference for a uniform value of ${\varphi }_0$, but spatially varying phase costs gradient energy. Consequently a neutral condensate has a gapless Goldstone mode and a nonzero phase stiffness. The mode becomes sound once density dynamics is included. With $\hslash =1$ the superfluid velocity is $\nabla \varphi /m$, so a single-valued field allows circulation in units $2\pi /m$ around a closed loop that avoids zeros of the amplitude. This phase coherence and rigidity are the physical content of the broken-symmetry description.

The claim is a mean-field saddle statement, not an assertion that every $d$ and temperature in the question supports true long-range order. In a finite number-conserving system $⟨a⟩=0$; the symmetry-breaking order parameter is defined with the thermodynamic limit taken before an infinitesimal source is removed. In a homogeneous infinite short-range gas at nonzero temperature, infrared phase fluctuations prohibit true condensation in $d\le 2$. In one dimension they also destroy true condensate long-range order at zero temperature. A two-dimensional gas can nevertheless have superfluidity and algebraically decaying correlations below a Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless transition. A finite trap can have substantial coherence without contradicting these thermodynamic statements.^[ref]

Schrödinger's cat exposes the quantum measurement problem by correlating a microscopic alternative with macroscopically distinct records. Under unitary evolution a schematic state becomesThe difficulty is explaining why a definite macroscopic outcome is observed if the isolated total state is always governed by the linear Schrödinger equation. It is not a claim that one classically contradictory record has literally been observed. Environmental interactions rapidly entangle the records with different environment states, making their reduced density matrix approximately diagonal. That explains the practical loss of interference but does not, by itself, turn a global pure superposition into a selected single branch.

Wigner's friend places an observer's physical memory inside the quantum description. A friend measuring $|+⟩=(|0⟩+|1⟩)/\sqrt{2}$ can become correlated asConditioned on one friend record, the corresponding relative state contains a definite outcome. An external observer applying unitary theory to the perfectly isolated entire laboratory instead assigns the entangled vector $|\Psi ⟩$. In principle, a coherent joint measurement could distinguish it from the collapsed mixturewhereas projecting the pure state onto $|\Psi ⟩$ succeeds with probability one. Preserving that laboratory coherence, including all records and environment correlations, is an extreme idealization for macroscopic observers.

The paradox concerns how state assignment, definite records and universal unitary dynamics fit together. It does not show that an observer can send messages faster than light or that consciousness must be given a special dynamical role. The many-worlds interpretation retains the global unitary state with branch-relative records; interpretations with a physical collapse must specify when and how unitary evolution changes. Stating the chosen assumptions prevents the friend's conditional state and the external observer's unconditioned state from being treated as the same mathematical object.

Linearity of the detector's unitary time evolution maps the two input branches separately, giving the quantum premeasurement stateIn the ordered tensor product basis $(|\uparrow d_{\uparrow }⟩,|\uparrow d_{\downarrow }⟩,|\downarrow d_{\uparrow }⟩,|\downarrow d_{\downarrow }⟩)$, its pure density matrix isA nonselective projective measurement in the indicated detector basis applies $\rho \mapsto {\sum }_j(I_S\otimes {\Lambda }_j)\rho (I_S\otimes {\Lambda }_j)$, removing the two off-diagonal terms:This is the usual nonselective meaning of von Neumann process 1. It is not equal to the pure projector $|{\Phi }^C⟩⟨{\Phi }^C|$. If “the detector has clicked” means conditioning on an actual up outcome, the normalized postselected state is instead $|\uparrow d_{\uparrow }⟩$, with probability $1/2$. The correlated superposition describes the coherent premeasurement before that selection.

A pure bipartite quantum state is entangled if it cannot be written as a tensor product $|a⟩\otimes |b⟩$. More generally a mixed quantum state is entangled if its density matrix cannot be expressed as a convex mixture of product density matrices. Two applications are quantum teleportation, which transfers an unknown qubit using a shared entangled pair plus classical communication, and superdense coding, which uses a shared entangled pair and transmission of one qubit to communicate two classical bits. Neither permits faster-than-light communication.

When $p_0,p_1>0$, the observed relative frequencies converge, for large sample size, to the conditional probabilitiesEquality says that the second binary outcome has the same distribution whichever first outcome occurred; this is independence of these two particular measurement results. Cross-multiplication givesFor finite samples the two empirical fractions fluctuate; they are estimates, not exact deterministic equalities. If $p_0=0$ or $p_1=0$, the missing conditional fraction is undefined, but one outcome is constant, so the joint measurement results are independent and the displayed modulus identity still holds.