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Full-Text Articles in Physics
Quantum Violation Of The Pigeonhole Principle And The Nature Of Quantum Correlations, Yakir Aharonov, Fabrizio Colombo, S. Popescu, Irene Sabadini, Daniele C. Struppa, Jeff Tollaksen
Quantum Violation Of The Pigeonhole Principle And The Nature Of Quantum Correlations, Yakir Aharonov, Fabrizio Colombo, S. Popescu, Irene Sabadini, Daniele C. Struppa, Jeff Tollaksen
Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research
The pigeonhole principle: "If you put three pigeons in two pigeonholes at least two of the pigeons end up in the same hole" is an obvious yet fundamental principle of Nature as it captures the very essence of counting. Here however we show that in quantum mechanics this is not true! We find instances when three quantum particles are put in two boxes, yet no two particles are in the same box. Furthermore, we show that the above "quantum pigeonhole principle" is only one of a host of related quantum effects, and points to a very interesting structure of quantum …