What is the Referent of a Nonpure Quantum State

The traditional concept of mixed quantum states is critically analyzed. It is shown that the so-called “proper mixtures” and “improper mixtures” have to be represented by structurally different states. Proper mixtures correspond to the unique decomposition into factor states. Since a decomposition of a nonpure factor state into pure states is highly nonunique, a simple ignorance interpretation is defensible for classical systems only. Accordingly, it is not evident whether an operational description of a quantum system has an underlying individual ontic interpretation.

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