PIRSA:26050063

Video URL

https://pirsa.org/26050063

No-Go Theorems in Modal Quantum Theory

Schumacher, B. (2026). No-Go Theorems in Modal Quantum Theory. Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. https://pirsa.org/26050063

Schumacher, Ben. No-Go Theorems in Modal Quantum Theory. Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, May. 20, 2026, https://pirsa.org/26050063 

          @misc{ scivideos_PIRSA:26050063,
            doi = {10.48660/26050063},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/26050063},
            author = {Schumacher, Ben},
            keywords = {Quantum Foundations},
            language = {en},
            title = {No-Go Theorems in Modal Quantum Theory},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics},
            year = {2026},
            month = {may},
            note = {PIRSA:26050063 see, \url{https://scivideos.org/pirsa/26050063}}
          }

Ben Schumacher Kenyon College

Talk numberPIRSA:26050063
DOI10.48660/26050063
Source RepositoryPIRSA
Collection
Talk Type Scientific Series
Subject

Abstract

Modal quantum theory (MQT) is a toy model based on finite fields that lacks the probability structure of actual quantum theory (AQT).  In essence, MQT retains the principle of superposition for quantum states but not unitarity or state normalization.  Many familiar "no-go" results in AQT have analogues in MQT, including the no-cloning, no-deleting and no-broadcasting theorems.  Other results, such as the no-hiding theorem, are actually false in MQT.  This talk gives an overview of these results.