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Locality Implies Complex Numbers in Quantum Mechanics
Tianfeng Feng, Changliang Ren, Vlatko Vedral·April 10, 2025
Quantum Physics
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Abstract
We show that the presented real-number quantum theories, compatible with the independent source assumption, require the inclusion of a nonlocal map. This means that if the independent source assumption holds, in these models, complex-number quantum theory is equivalent to a real-number quantum theory with hidden nonlocal degrees of freedom. Our results suggest that complex numbers may be indispensable for describing the process involving entanglement between two independent systems.