Classical Explanations in (and of) General Probabilistic Theories

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Authors: John Harding, Alex Wilce
Cited by: 0
References: 6

Abstract

We introduce a notion of the ``explanation" of one (generalized) probabilistic model by another as particular kind of span in the category $\Prob$ of probabilistic models and morphisms. We show that explanations compose under a standard pullback construction (notwithstanding that $\Prob$ does not support arbitrary pullbacks). We then show that every locally-finite probabilistic model has a canonical, sharp classical explanation. The construction is functorial, so every locally-finite probabilistic theory has a canonical, sharp classical (though of course, usually non-local) representation.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Quantum Mechanics and Applications Bayesian Modeling and Causal Inference Advanced Algebra and Logic

Publication details

Journal / source
arXiv (Cornell University)
Publication date
5 March 2026
Language
EN
Document type
Preprint