Physical probability in the Everett interpretation and Bell inequalities
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Quantum Physics arXiv:2601.12159 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 17 Jan 2026] Title:Physical probability in the Everett interpretation and Bell inequalities Authors:Simon Saunders View a PDF of the paper titled Physical probability in the Everett interpretation and Bell inequalities, by Simon Saunders View PDF Abstract:I define a notion of locality LOC, closely modelled on the Bell principle of Local Causality, construed as the condition that single case probabilities cannot be modified by actions at spacelike separation. The new principle, like that of Bell, forces Bell inequalities, but with two loopholes: one is violation of measurement independence, known to Bell, but the other is non-uniqueness of remote outcomes, a loophole only for LOC, not for Local Causality. I also set out a theory of physical probability, applicable to the Everett interpretation, in which the Born rule is derived, and which therefore violates Bell inequalities. I show it is consistent with LOC. Surprisingly, both loopholes are exploited. I conclude not only that physical probability in the Everett interpretation involves no action at a distance, but that the observed violation of Bell inequalities is powerful evidence for many worlds. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); History and Philosophy of Physics (physics.hist-ph) Cite as: arXiv:2601.12159 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2601.12159v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2601.12159 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Simon Saunders [view email] [via Simon Saunders as proxy] [v1] Sat, 17 Jan 2026 20:11:50 UTC (490 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Physical probability in the Everett interpretation and Bell inequalities, by Simon SaundersView PDF view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-01 Change to browse by: physics physics.hist-ph References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) Links to Code Toggle Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)