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Quantum causality

Nature Physics volume 10, pages 259–263 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Traditionally, quantum theory assumes the existence of a fixed background causal structure. But if the laws of quantum mechanics are applied to the causal relations, then one could imagine situations in which the causal order of events is not always fixed, but is subject to quantum uncertainty. Such indefinite causal structures could make new quantum information processing tasks possible and provide methodological tools in quantum theories of gravity. Here, I review recent theoretical progress in this emerging area.

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Figure 1: Different causal relations between events in Alice's and Bob's laboratories.
Figure 2: Superposition of quantum circuits.

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Acknowledgements

I thank F. Costa, O. Oreshkov and J. Pienaar for discussions. This work was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) through FoQuS and individual project 24621, the European Commission Project RAQUEL, FQXi, and the John Templeton Foundation.

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  1. Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Časlav Brukner

  2. Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI), Boltzmanngasse 3, Vienna, 1090, Austria

    Časlav Brukner

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Correspondence to Časlav Brukner.

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Brukner, Č. Quantum causality. Nature Phys 10, 259–263 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2930

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