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Weak Values Are Quantum: You Can Bet On It, Alessandro Romito, Andrew N. Jordan, Yakir Aharonov, Yuval Gefen

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The outcome of a weak quantum measurement conditioned to a subsequent post-selection (a weak value protocol) can assume peculiar values. These results cannot be explained in terms of conditional probabilistic outcomes of projective measurements. However, a classical model has been recently put forward that can reproduce peculiar expectation values, reminiscent of weak values. This led the authors of that work to claim that weak values have an entirely classical explanation. Here we discuss what is quantum about weak values with the help of a simple model based on basic quantum mechanics. We first demonstrate how a classical theory can indeed …