On the Colbeck-Renner Theorem

Abstract

In three papers Colbeck and Renner (Nature Communications 2:411, (2011); Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 150402 (2012); arXiv:1208.4123) argued that "no alternative theory compatible with quantum theory and satisfying the freedom of choice assumption can give improved predictions". We give a more precise version of the formulation and proof of this remarkable claim. Our proof broadly follows theirs, which relies on physically well motivated axioms, but to fill in some crucial details certain technical assumptions have had to be added, whose physical status seems somewhat obscure.