A new interpretation of Bell's inequalities

Abstract

Bell's inequalities are always derived assuming that local hidden-variable theories give a set of positive-definite probabilities for detecting a particle with a given spin orientation. The usual claim is that quantum mechanics, by its very nature, cannot produce a set of such probabilities. We show that this is not the case if one allows for generalized (nonpositive-definite) “master probability distributions.” The master distributions give the usual quantum mechanical violation of Bell's inequalities. Consequences for the interpretation of quantum mechanics are discussed.