Skip Navigation


The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science Advance Access originally published online on August 12, 2006
The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 2006 57(3):587-621; doi:10.1093/bjps/axl016
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
57/3/587    most recent
axl016v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Timpson, C. G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author (2006). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of British Society for the Philosophy of Science. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

The Grammar of Teleportation

Christopher G. Timpson

Division of History and Philosophy of Science, Department of Philosophy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK c.g.timpson{at}leeds.ac.uk

Whilst a straightforward consequence of the formalism of non-relativistic quantum mechanics, the phenomenon of quantum teleportation has given rise to considerable puzzlement. In this paper, the teleportation protocol is reviewed and these puzzles dispelled. It is suggested that they arise from two primary sources: (1) the familiar error of hypostatizing an abstract noun (in this case, ‘information’) and (2) failure to differentiate interpretation dependent from interpretation independent features of quantum mechanics. A subsidiary source of error, the simulation fallacy, is also identified. The resolution presented of the puzzles of teleportation illustrates the benefits of paying due attention to the logical status of ‘information’ as an abstract noun.

  1. Introduction
  2. The quantum teleportation protocol
    2.1 Some information-theoretic aspects of teleportation
    2.1.1 Preamble
    2.1.2Application to teleportation


  3. The puzzles of teleportation
  4. Resolving (dissolving) the problem
    4.1 The simulation fallacy

  5. The teleportation process under different interpretations
    5.1 Collapse interpretations:Dirac/von Neumann, GRW
    5.2 No collapse and no extra values: Everett
    5.3 No collapse, but extra values: Bohm
    5.3.1 A note on active information

    5.4 Ensemble and statistical viewpoints

  6. Concluding remarks


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.