Here's the paper abstract; haven't read the paper. Maybe Dragar will read and comment.
Quote:
Quantum states are the key mathematical objects in quantum theory. It is therefore surprising
that physicists have been unable to agree on what a quantum state represents. There are at least
two opposing schools of thought, each almost as old as quantum theory itself. One is that a pure
state is a physical property of system, much like position and momentum in classical mechanics.
Another is that even a pure state has only a statistical signi cance, akin to a probability distribution
in statistical mechanics. Here we show that, given only very mild assumptions, the statistical
interpretation of the quantum state is inconsistent with the predictions of quantum theory. This
result holds even in the presence of small amounts of experimental noise, and is therefore amenable
to experimental test using present or near-future technology. If the predictions of quantum theory
are con rmed, such a test would show that distinct quantum states must correspond to physically
distinct states of reality.
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