English

Can `unsharp objectification' solve the quantum measurement problem?

Quantum Physics 2007-05-23 v1

Abstract

The quantum measurement problem is formulated in the form of an insolubility theorem that states the impossibility of obtaining, for all available object preparations, a mixture of states of the compound object and apparatus system that would represent definite pointer positions. A proof is given that comprises arbitrary object observables, whether sharp or unsharp, and besides sharp pointer observables a certain class of unsharp pointers, namely, those allowing for the property of pointer value definiteness. A recent result of H. Stein is applied to allow for the possibility that a given measurement may not be applicable to all possible object states but only to a subset of them. The question is raised whether the statement of the insolubility theorem remains true for genuinely unsharp observables. This gives rise to a precise notion of unsharp objectification.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.quant-ph/9802011,
  title  = {Can `unsharp objectification' solve the quantum measurement problem?},
  author = {P. Busch},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/9802011},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

8 pages, LaTeX, Contribution to the Quantum Structures Conference, Berlin, 1996