PreprintCC BY 4.0arXiv
Detection times are not local observables in quantum field theory
Abstract
Detection times are routinely recorded in quantum experiments. We show that, under natural covariance and consistency requirements, the observables describing these times cannot be algebraically localized in any bounded spacetime region, even when the records themselves are localized. This challenges the identification of algebraic localization with the physical localization of measurements and shows why microcausality alone does not establish non-signalling for measurements in quantum field theory.
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BibTeX
@misc{anastopoulos2026detection,
title = {{Detection times are not local observables in quantum field theory}},
author = {Charis Anastopoulos and Ntina Savvidou},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.02135},
eprint = {2611.02135},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.02135},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Detection times are not local observables in quantum field theory
AU - Charis Anastopoulos
AU - Ntina Savvidou
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/01
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.02135
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.02135
AB - Detection times are routinely recorded in quantum experiments. We show that, under natural covariance and consistency requirements, the observables describing these times cannot be algebraically localized in any bounded spacetime region, even when the records themselves are localized. This challenges the identification of algebraic localization with the physical localization of measurements and shows why microcausality alone does not establish non-signalling for measurements in quantum field theory.
ER -