Local hidden-variable theory: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Interpretation of quantum mechanics}}

{{quantum|cTopic=Interpretations}}

In the [[Interpretations of quantum mechanics|interpretation of quantum mechanics]], a '''local hidden-variable theory''' is a [[hidden-variable theory]] that satisfies the [[principle of locality]]. These are models, usually [[Determinism|deterministic]], that attempt to account for the probabilistic features of [[quantum mechanics]] via the mechanism of underlying inaccessible variables, with the additional requirement that distant events be statistically independent. By Localdefinition, local hidden-variable theories automatically rule out ''instantaneous'' (that is, [[faster-than-light]]) effects between separate events.

The mathematical implications of a local hidden-variable theory in regard to the phenomenon of [[quantum entanglement]] were explored by physicist [[John Stewart Bell]], who in 1964 [[Bell's theorem|proved]] that broad classes of local hidden-variable theories cannot reproduce the correlations between measurement outcomes that quantum mechanics predicts. Laboratory [[Bell test|Bell tests]] have confirmed these results.