Reconsidering No-Go Theorems from a Practical Perspective

I argue that our judgements regarding the locally causal models that are compatible with a given constraint implicitly depend, in part, on the context of inquiry. It follows from this that certain quantum no-go theorems, which are particularly striking in the traditional foundational context, have no force when the context switches to a discussion of the physical systems we are capable of building with the aim of classically reproducing quantum statistics. I close with a general discussion of the possible implications of this for our understanding of the limits of classical description, and for our understanding of the fundamental aim of physical investigation. 1 Introduction 2 No-Go Results   2.1 The CHSH inequality   2.2 The GHZ equality 3 Classically Simulating Quantum Statistics   3.1 GHZ statistics   3.2 Singlet statistics 4 What Is a Classical Computer Simulation? 5 Comparing the All-or-Nothing GHZ with Statistical (In)equalities 6 General Discussion 7 Conclusion 1 Introduction 2 No-Go Results   2.1 The CHSH inequality   2.2 The GHZ equality   2.1 The CHSH inequality   2.2 The GHZ equality 3 Classically Simulating Quantum Statistics   3.1 GHZ statistics   3.2 Singlet statistics   3.1 GHZ statistics   3.2 Singlet statistics 4 What Is a Classical Computer Simulation? 5 Comparing the All-or-Nothing GHZ with Statistical (In)equalities 6 General Discussion 7 Conclusion