{
  "annotation_id": "4b115799-08b4-4c2f-b26e-94da232cd0eb",
  "date_created": "2026-03-02T18:02:19.343000Z",
  "date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:02:19.343000Z",
  "file_hash": "55dcdaec98c96a7464f453cd9e1441afb48fe8ffe6348a047681ee2e04164f9d",
  "private": false,
  "record": {
    "abstract": "A controversy that has arisen many times over in disparate contexts is\nwhether quantum coherences between eigenstates of certain quantities are fact\nor fiction. We present a pedagogical introduction to the debate in the form of\na hypothetical dialogue between proponents from each of the two camps: a\nfactist and a fictionist. A resolution of the debate can be achieved, we argue,\nby recognizing that quantum states do not only contain information about the\nintrinsic properties of a system but about its extrinsic properties as well,\nthat is, about its relation to other systems external to it. Specifically, the\ncoherent quantum state of the factist is the appropriate description of the\nrelation of the system to one reference frame, while the incoherent quantum\nstate of the fictionist is the appropriate description of the relation of the\nsystem to another, uncorrelated, reference frame. The two views, we conclude,\nare alternative but equally valid paradigms of description.",
    "arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0507214",
    "authors": [
      "Stephen D. Bartlett",
      "Terry Rudolph",
      "Robert W. Spekkens"
    ],
    "categories": [
      "quant-ph"
    ],
    "doi": "10.1142/S0219749906001591",
    "journal_ref": "International Journal of Quantum Information, Vol. 4, No. 1 (2006)\n  17-43",
    "title": "Dialogue Concerning Two Views on Quantum Coherence: Factist and   Fictionist",
    "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0507214"
  },
  "schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
  "source": {
    "execution_id": "c8137dab-63ec-475e-abd8-e77b917caaa6",
    "id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
    "type": "Model",
    "variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
    "version": "0.1.0"
  },
  "user_id": 1000002
}