A formal proof of the born rule from decision-theoretic assumptions [aka: How to Prove the Born Rule]

In Simon Saunders, Jonathan Barrett, Adrian Kent & David Wallace, Many Worlds?: Everett, Quantum Theory, & Reality. Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press UK (2010)
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Abstract

I develop the decision-theoretic approach to quantum probability, originally proposed by David Deutsch, into a mathematically rigorous proof of the Born rule in (Everett-interpreted) quantum mechanics. I sketch the argument informally, then prove it formally, and lastly consider a number of proposed ``counter-examples'' to show exactly which premises of the argument they violate. (This is a preliminary version of a chapter to appear --- under the title ``How to prove the Born Rule'' --- in Saunders, Barrett, Kent and Wallace, "Many worlds? Everett, quantum theory and reality", forthcoming from Oxford University Press.).

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David Wallace
University of Pittsburgh

References found in this work

The Foundations of Statistics.Leonard J. Savage - 1954 - Synthese 11 (1):86-89.
The Foundations of Statistics.Leonard J. Savage - 1956 - Philosophy of Science 23 (2):166-166.
Radical Interpretation.Donald Davidson - 1973 - Dialectica 27 (1):313-328.

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