Instruct: Identify the main and secondary category of Arxiv papers based on the titles and abstracts
Query: Interpreting weak value amplification with a toy realist model   Constructing an ontology for quantum theory is challenging, in part due to
unavoidable measurement back-action. The Aharonov-Albert-Vaidman weak
measurement formalism provides a method to predict measurement results (weak
values) in a regime where back-action is negligible. The weak value appears
analogous to a classical conditional mean and in fact, has a number of features
that further suggest it may be interpreted as being related to some underlying
ontological model. However, the ontology appears bizarre since the weak values
are complex and unbounded. Here, we study weak values in the context of a
recent quantum optical experiment involving two-photon interactions. The
results of the experiment are reinterpreted within a 'stochastic optics' model
of light. The model is based on standard (Maxwell) electromagnetic theory,
supplemented by stochastic fluctuations of the electromagnetic fields. We show
that the conditional means of the electric field intensities correspond to the
experimentally observed weak values. This is a provocative result, as it
suggests that at least within this experiment, the weak value gives us
information about the average of an ontological quantity (the intensity). We
study the breakdown of the stochastic optics model, which occurs outside the
experimentally probed regime, and in particular in the limit where the weak
value predicts 'anomalous' results.

8
The categories of this paper are: hep-ex
33
The categories of this paper are: plasm-ph
29
The categories of this paper are: funct-an
19
The categories of this paper are: eess
23
The categories of this paper are: solv-int
20
The categories of this paper are: acc-phys
6
The categories of this paper are: astro-ph
32
The categories of this paper are: atom-ph
16
The categories of this paper are: stat
2
The categories of this paper are: math
11
The categories of this paper are: hep-lat
0
The categories of this paper are: hep-ph
27
The categories of this paper are: comp-gas
15
The categories of this paper are: nucl-ex
1
The categories of this paper are: cs
12
The categories of this paper are: nucl-th