Temporal Observables and Entangled Histories

Abstract

We demonstrate that temporal observables, which are sensitive to a system's history (as opposed to its state), implicate entangled histories. We exemplify protocols for measuring such observables, and algorithms for predicting the (stochastic) outcomes of such measurements. Temporal observables allow us to define, and potentially to measure, precise mathematical consequences of intrinsically disjoint, yet mutually accessible, branches within the evolution of a pure quantum state.