Abstract
Svensson (Found Phys 45: 1645, 2015) argued that the concept of the weak value of an observable of a pre- and post-selected quantum system cannot be applied when the expectation value of the observable in the initial state vanishes. Svensson’s argument is analyzed and shown to be inconsistent using several examples.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Svensson, B.E.Y.: Non-representative quantum mechanical weak values. Found. Phys. 45, 1645 (2015)
Aharonov, Y., Albert, D.Z., Vaidman, L.: How the result of a measurement of a component of the spin of a spin-\(\frac{1}{2}\) particle can turn out to be 100. Phys. Rev. Lett. 60, 1351 (1988)
Vaidman, L.: Past of a quantum particle. Phys. Rev. A 87, 052104 (2013)
Vaidman, L.: Tracing the past of a quantum particle. Phys. Rev. A 89, 024102 (2014)
Acknowledgements
We thank Lukas Knips, Jan Dziewior and Jasmin Meinecke for useful discussions. This work has been supported in part by the Israel Science Foundation Grant No. 1311/14 and the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development Grant No. I-1275-303.14.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ben-Israel, A., Vaidman, L. Comment on “Non-representative Quantum Mechanical Weak Values”. Found Phys 47, 467–470 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-017-0071-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-017-0071-x