Bell inequalities and incompatible measurements

Peter Morgan

Published 2003-07-17Version 1

Bell inequalities are a consequence of measurement incompatibility (not, as generally thought, of nonlocality). In classical terms, this is equivalent to contextuality -- measurement devices do have a significant effect. Contextual models are reasonable in classical physics, which always took the view that we ignore measurement devices whenever possible, but if that isn't good enough then we do have to model measurement devices. It is also argued that quantum theory should only be taken with counterfactual seriousness, because measurement incompatibility is a counterfactual concept.