A new paper by Ning Bao, DuBridge Postdoctoral Scholar in Theoretical Physics, and Graduate Student, Nicole Yunger Halpern has been selected as a Physical Review A Editor’s selection. In Quantum voting and violation of Arrow’s impossibility theorem [a] quantum voting system is proposed in the tradition of quantum game theory. It is shown that this system violates the quantum analogy of Arrow’s impossibility theorem, which makes claims about dictatorship in a classical electoral system. Phys. Rev. A 95, 062306 (2017)
“We propose a quantum voting system in the spirit of quantum games such as the quantum prisoner’s dilemma. Our scheme enables a constitution to violate a quantum analog of Arrow’s impossibility theorem. Arrow’s theorem is a claim proved deductively in economics: Every (classical) constitution endowed with three innocuous-seeming properties is a dictatorship. We construct quantum analogs of constitutions, of the properties, and of Arrow’s theorem. A quantum version of majority rule, we show, violates this quantum Arrow conjecture. Our voting system allows for tactical-voting strategies reliant on entanglement, interference, and superpositions. This contribution to quantum game theory helps elucidate how quantum phenomena can be harnessed for strategic advantage.”
Read more about how the authors worked to model elections with quantum systems in the blog post Democrat plus Republican over the square-root of two
Read the full paper Bao, Ning and Yunger Halpern, Nicole (2017) Quantum voting and violation of Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem. Physical Review A, 95 (6). Art. No. 062306. ISSN 2469-9926.
