Let a projective measurement have mutually orthogonal projections satisfying . On a density operator , the Born rule and the Lüders rule give
conditional on outcome . On the first part of a bipartite quantum system, replace by .
The subsystems are isolated when there is no interaction term coupling them. Their Hamiltonian operator has the form
so their subsequent unitary time evolution factorizes as .
The reduced density matrix of subsystem 1 is
where the partial trace is characterized by
for every local observable . Thus contains exactly the statistics accessible by measurements on subsystem 1.
Suppose a projective measurement is performed on subsystem 2 and its outcome is not communicated. The resulting nonselective state is
For every , the cyclic property of the trace and give
Hence . No local projective measurement on subsystem 1 can reveal whether the remote unreported measurement occurred. This is quantum no-signalling, which prevents a choice made at a spacelike separation from transmitting information faster than light and makes the measurement formalism compatible with relativistic causality.
The proposed nondisturbing device would violate no information without disturbance. In an ordinary quantum instrument, let be the Kraus operators associated with classical output . If every pure state remains unchanged even conditional on the displayed outcome, every nonzero must be parallel to . A linear operator for which every vector is an eigenvector is a scalar multiple of the identity, so . Its output probability
is independent of the state. It cannot equal for arbitrary projectors. Equivalently, repeated nondisturbing samples would permit quantum state tomography of one specimen and then quantum cloning, contradicting ordinary quantum theory.
Such devices would not *necessarily* enable superluminal signalling. One consistent operational extension could make every sequence of outputs depend only on the local reduced density matrix and local settings. Since an unreported remote measurement leaves that matrix unchanged, all local device statistics would remain unchanged too. Other extensions could add nonlocal outcome-dependent rules and permit signalling, but that behavior is additional to the device specification rather than forced by it.