{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T09:48:02Z","timestamp":1790761682570,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"Verein zur Forderung des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,23]],"date-time":"2023-05-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1684800000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001870","name":"Foundation for Polish Science","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["IRAP project ICTQT, contract no. 2018\/MAB\/5, co-financed by EU Smart Growth Operational Programme"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IRAP project ICTQT, contract no. 2018\/MAB\/5, co-financed by EU Smart Growth Operational Programme"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001870","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["quantum-journal.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Quantum"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Relational Quantum Mechanics (RQM) claims to be an interpretation of quantum theory \\cite{Rovelli.21}. However, there are significant departures from quantum theory: (i) in RQM measurement outcomes arise from interactions which entangle a system <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\"><mml:mi>S<\/mml:mi><\/mml:math> and an observer <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\"><mml:mi>A<\/mml:mi><\/mml:math> without decoherence, and (ii) such an outcome is a \"fact\" relative to the observer <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\"><mml:mi>A<\/mml:mi><\/mml:math>, but it is not a fact relative to another observer <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\"><mml:mi>B<\/mml:mi><\/mml:math> who has not interacted with <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\"><mml:mi>S<\/mml:mi><\/mml:math> or <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\"><mml:mi>A<\/mml:mi><\/mml:math> during the foregoing measurement process. For <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\"><mml:mi>B<\/mml:mi><\/mml:math> the system <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\"><mml:mi>S<\/mml:mi><mml:mo>&amp;#x2297;<\/mml:mo><mml:mi>A<\/mml:mi><\/mml:math> remains entangled. We derive a GHZ-like contradiction showing that relative facts described by these statements are incompatible with quantum theory. Hence Relational Quantum Mechanics should not be considered an interpretation of quantum theory, according to a criterion for interpretations that we have introduced. The criterion states that whenever an interpretation introduces a notion of outcomes, these outcomes, whatever they are, must follow the probability distribution specified by the Born rule.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.22331\/q-2023-05-23-1015","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,23]],"date-time":"2023-05-23T11:58:17Z","timestamp":1684843097000},"page":"1015","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.22331\/q-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Relative Facts of Relational Quantum Mechanics are Incompatible with Quantum Mechanics"],"prefix":"10.22331","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Jay","family":"Lawrence","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marcin","family":"Markiewicz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Centre for Theory of Quantum Technologies (ICTQT), University of Gdansk, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marek","family":"\u017bukowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Centre for Theory of Quantum Technologies (ICTQT), University of Gdansk, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"9598","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"0","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Adlam, Emily (2021), Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Elements in the Philosophy of Physics (Cambridge University Press).","DOI":"10.1017\/9781108885515"},{"key":"1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Adlam, Emily, and Carlo Rovelli (2022), ``Information is physical: Cross-perspective links in relational quantum mechanics,&apos;&apos; 10.48550\/ARXIV.2203.13342.","DOI":"10.48550\/ARXIV.2203.13342"},{"key":"2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Brukner, \u010caslav (2022), ``Wigner&apos;s friend and relational objectivity,&apos;&apos; Nature Reviews Physics 4 (10), 628\u2013630.","DOI":"10.1038\/s42254-022-00505-8"},{"key":"3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Brukner, \u010caslav (2018), ``A no-go theorem for observer-independent facts,&apos;&apos; Entropy 20 (5), 10.3390\/e20050350.","DOI":"10.3390\/e20050350"},{"key":"4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Cabello, Ad\u00e1n (2017), ``Interpretations of quantum theory: A map of madness,&apos;&apos; in What is Quantum Information?, edited by Olimpia Lombardi, Sebastian Fortin, Federico Holik, and Cristian L\u00f3pez (Cambridge University Press) p. 138\u2013144.","DOI":"10.1017\/9781316494233.009"},{"key":"5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Cavalcanti, Eric G (2021), ``The view from a Wigner Bubble,&apos;&apos; Foundations of Physics 51 (2), 39.","DOI":"10.1007\/s10701-021-00417-0"},{"key":"6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Deutsch, David (1985), ``Quantum theory as a universal physical theory,&apos;&apos; International Journal of Theoretical Physics 24 (1), 1\u201341.","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00670071"},{"key":"7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Di Biagio, Andrea, and Carlo Rovelli (2022), ``Relational quantum mechanics is about facts, not states: A reply to Pienaar and Brukner,&apos;&apos; Foundations of Physics 52 (3), 62.","DOI":"10.1007\/s10701-022-00579-5"},{"key":"8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Frauchiger, Daniela, and Renato Renner (2018), ``Quantum theory cannot consistently describe the use of itself,&apos;&apos; Nature Communications 9 (1), 3711.","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-018-05739-8"},{"key":"9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Greenberger, Daniel M, Michael A. 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