A simple quantum model linked to a theory of decisions

Foundations of Physics

This article may be seen as a summary and a final discussion of the work that the author has done in recent years on the foundation of quantum theory. It is shown that quantum mechanics as a model follows under certain specific conditions from a quite different, much simpler model. This model is connected to the mind of an observer, or to the joint minds of a group of communicating observers. The model is based upon conceptual variables, and an important aspect is that an observer (a group of observers) must decide on which variable to measure. The model is then linked more generally to a theory of decisions. The results are discussed from several angles.

2013

Humans do not always make the most rational decisions. As studies have shown, even when logic and reasoning point in one direction, sometimes humans “walk” to the opposite route, motivated by personal bias or simply "wishful thinking." This paradoxical human behavior has resisted explanation by classical decision theory for over a decade. Scientists have shown that a quantum probability model can provide a simple explanation for human decision-making. In military, decision-making process is considered to be the most neuralgic one. With the recent interest in quantum computing and quantum information theory, there has been an effort to recast classical game theory using quantum probability amplitudes, and hence study the effect of quantum superposition, interference and entanglement on the agents’ optimal strategies. Apart from unsolved problems in quantum information theory, quantum game theory and decision –making, may be useful in studying quantum communication since tha...

Quantum Models of Cognition and Decision

Much of our understanding of human thinking is based on probabilistic models. This innovative book by Jerome R. Busemeyer and Peter D. Bruza argues that, actually, the underlying mathematical structures from quantum theory provide a much better account of human thinking than traditional models. They introduce the foundations for modelling probabilistic-dynamic systems using two aspects of quantum theory. The first, “contextuality,” is away to understand interference effects found with inferences and decisions under conditions of uncertainty. The second, “quantum entanglement,” allows cognitive phenomena to be modelled in non-reductionist ways. Employing these principles drawn from quantum theory allows us to view human cognition and decision in a totally new light. Introducing the basic principles in an easy-to-follow way, this book does not assume a physics background or a quantum brain and comes complete with a tutorial and fully worked-out applications in important areas of cognition and decision

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2010

In physics, at the beginning of the twentieth century it was recognized that some experiments could not be explained by the conventional classical mechanics but the same could be explained by the newly discovered quantum theory. It resulted into a new mechanics called quantum mechanics that revolutionized the scientific and technological developments. Again at the beginning of the twenty-first century, it is being recognized that some experiments related with the human decision making processes could not be explained by the conventional classical decision theory but the same could be explained by the models based on quantum mechanics. It is now recognized that we need quantum mechanics in psychology as well as in economics and finance. In this paper we attempt to advance and explain the present understanding of applicability of quantum mechanics to the human decision making processes. Using the postulates analogous to the postulates of quantum mechanics, we show the derivation of the quantum interference equation to illustrate the quantum approach. The explanation of disjunction effect experiments of Tversky and Shafir(1992) has been chosen to demonstrate the necessity of a quantum model. Further to suggest the possibility of application of the quantum theory to the business related decisions, some terms such as price operator, state of mind of the acquiring firm, etc. are introduced and discussed in context of the merger/acquisition of business firms. The possibility of the development in the areas such as quantum finance, quantum management, application of quantum mechanics to the human dynamics related with health care management, etc. is also indicated.

Operations Research, 2013

In physics, at the beginning of the twentieth century it was recognized that some experiments could not be explained by the conventional classical mechanics, but the same could be explained by the newly discovered quantum theory. It resulted in a new mechanics called quantum mechanics that revolutionized scientific and technological developments. Again, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, it is being recognized that some experiments related to the human decision-making processes could not be explained by the conventional classical decision theory but the same could be explained by the models based on quantum mechanics. It is now recognized that we need quantum mechanics in psychology as well as in economics and finance. In this paper we attempt to advance and explain the present understanding of applicability of quantum mechanics to the human decision-making processes. Using the postulates analogous to the postulates of quantum mechanics, we show the derivation of the quan...

2019

This study utilises an experiment famous in quantum physics, the Stern-Gerlach experiment, to inform the structure of an experimental protocol from which a quantum cognitive decision model can be developed. The 'quantumness' of this model is tested by computing a discrete quasi-probabilistic Wigner function. Based on theory from quantum physics, our hypothesis is that the Stern-Gerlach protocol will admit negative values in the Wigner function, thus signalling that the cognitive decision model is quantum. A crowdsourced experiment of two images was used to collect decisions around three questions related to image trustworthiness. The resultant data was used to instantiate the quantum model and compute the Wigner function. Negative values in the Wigner functions of both images were encountered, thus substantiating our hypothesis. Findings also revealed that the quantum cognitive model was a more accurate predictor of decisions when compared to predictions computed using Bayes...

Quantum Mechanics, Mathematics, Cognition and Action, 2002

This is what the epistemological universality of quantum mechanics consists of. By no means does it consist, as is often asserted, of the fact that any material system is made of microsystems-which is a physical circumstance, not an epistemological one. The feeling of essentiality conveyed by the quantum mechanical formalism to those who can read it, does not stem from this physical circumstance; it stems exclusively from the universal character of the peculiar cognitive situation dealt with in quantum mechanics. And, while reflections of it are encrypted in the general features of the formalism considered as a whole, this cognitive situation marks also directly the specific formal features that are pointed toward by the expressions "quantum probabilities" and "quantum logic". These simply are not intelligible in terms of what is classically called probabilities and logic. This manifests strikingly that the general epistemological consequences of the quantum mechanical formalism, if elaborated, modify the structure of our classical representations of probabilities and of logic, the two most basic and worked out representations of domains of our everyday thinking and acting. Indeed, when the universal representation of the very first stage of our conceptualization processes, drawn by generalization from quantum mechanics, is injected into classical probabilities and classical logic, they undergo a sort of spectral decomposition; and this places into evidence that, far down beneath language, probabilistic and logical conceptualization merge REMARKS ABOUT THE PROGRAM FOR A FORMALIZED EPISTEMOLOGY *

International Journal of Theoretical Physics, 2014

This work aims to develop a novel BDI agent programming framework, which embeds the reasoning under uncertainty (probabilistic logic) and is capable of a realistic simulation of human reasoning. We claim that such a development can be addressed through the adoption of the mathematical and logical formalism derived from Quantum Mechanics: a scheme fulfilling the necessary requirements is described, useful for both the interpretation of some peculiarities in human behavior, and eventually the adoption of 'quantum computing' formalism for the agent programming. This last possibility could exploit the power of quantum parallelism in practical reasoning applications. Integration with the BDI paradigm enables the straightforward adoption of efficient learning algorithms and procedures, enhancing the behavior and adaptation of the agent to the environment. Int J Theor Phys belonging to those scales and/or conditions, where quantum processes occur. This has led to the formulation of the so called quantum-like [1] and quantum structure paradigms [2], implemented in a few successful studies related mainly to cognitive sciences. Early examples are attempts of explaining observations in the fields of human decision making (violations of the sure thing principle [3], paradoxes emerging from expected utility theories [4], experiments about classification and decision [5]) and probability judgement (conjunction and disjunction fallacies [6, 7], order effects [8], the liar paradox [9], ...). Further investigations have also extended the quantum formalism approach to other cognitive phenomena, such as knowledge representation (invoking different principles of Quantum Mechanics, ranging from superposition [6] to contextuality and interference [10]), information retrieval [11]

ETH Research Collection, 2019

The non-extensibility of quantum theory into a theory with improved predictive power is based on a strong assumption of independent free choice, in which the physicists pick a measurement axis independently of anything that couldn't have been caused by their decision. Independent free choice is also at the core of the Nash equilibrium and classical game theory. A more recent line of game-theoretical research based on weakening free choice leads to non-trivial solution concepts with desirable properties such as at-most uniqueness, Pareto optimality, and contextuality. We show how introducing contingent free choice in the foundations of quantum theory yields a class of deterministic and contextual theories with an improved predictive power, and contrast them with the pilot-wave theory. Specifically, we suggest that quantum experiments, such as the EPR experiment , involving measurements located in spacetime, can be recast as dynamic games with imperfect information involving human agents and the universe. The underlying idea is that a physicist picking a measurement axis and the universe picking a measurement outcome are two faces of the same physical contingency phenomenon. The classical, Nashian resolution of these games based on independent free choice is analogous to local hidden variable theories, constrained by the Bell inequalities. On the other hand, in a setup in which agents are rational and omniscient in all possible worlds, under contingent free choice, the Perfectly Transparent Equilibrium provides a contextual resolution, based on the iterated elimination of inconsistent worlds, towards an at-most unique possible world, in which the outcomes of measurements that actually are carried out, and only them, are deterministically defined.