The term measurement theory refers to that part of a physical theory in which the empirical and operational content of the concepts of the theory is determined. Measurements are analyzed both as operational procedures defining the ► observables of the theory and as physical processes which are themselves subject to the laws of physics.
In classical physics, measurements are performed in order to determine the values of one or several observables of the physical system under consideration. Classical physics allowed the idealized notion that every physical quantity has a definite value at any time, and that this value can be determined with certainty by measurement without influencing the object system in a significant way. By contrast, in quantum mechanics both features fail to hold without strong qualifications. Accordingly, in their seminal paper of 1935 [1], Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen used elements of this description as a sufficient criterion of physical reality, applicable both in classical and quantum mechanics:
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Busch, P., Lahti, P. (2009). Measurement Theory. In: Greenberger, D., Hentschel, K., Weinert, F. (eds) Compendium of Quantum Physics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-70626-7_117
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