Related papers: Uncollapsing the wavefunction
The notorious quantum measurement problem brings out the difficulty to reconcile two quantum postulates: the unitary evolution of closed quantum systems and the wave-function collapse after a measurement. This problematics is particularly…
The notion of a physical collapse of the wave function is embodied in dynamical collapse models. These involve a modification of the unitary evolution of the wave function such as to give a dynamical account of collapse. The resulting…
We first consider the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox for the system of two particles with spin 1/2 with entangled spins in first-quantized quantum mechanics (QM). If measurement is governed by wavefunction collapse, then gedanken…
The topic of measurement in relativistic quantum field theory is addressed in this article. Some of the long standing problems of this subject are highlighted, including the incompatibility of an instantaneous ``collapse of the…
I have been arguing that quantum nonlocality, deeply entrenched in the present formalism of quantum mechanics and widely believed as a reality by physicists, is in fact absent. Spooky nonlocal state reduction is the most, and perhaps the…
Quantum mechanics relates probability of an observable event to the absolute square of the corresponding probability amplitude. It may, therefore, seem that the information about the amplitudes' phases must be irretrievably lost in the…
It is widely known that `collapse of the wave function' on a quantum system A may be brought about by an interaction with another quantum system B. We will prove that this is not just a possible, but a necessary consequence of information…
We propose partial measurements as a conceptual tool to understand how to operate with counterfactual claims in quantum physics. Indeed, unlike standard von Neumann measurements, partial measurements can be reversed probabilistically. We…
The question of whether entanglement between photons is equivalent to entanglement between their characteristic field modes, specifically, the single-particle wavefunctions that are composed and superposed to describe particles in such…
Proposals to solve the problems of quantum measurement via non-linear CPT-violating modifications of quantum dynamics are argued to provide a possible fundamental explanation for the irreversibility of statistical mechanics as well. The…
Because quantum measurements have probabilistic outcomes they can seem to violate conservation laws in individual experiments. Despite these appearances, strict conservation of momentum, orbital angular momentum, and energy can be shown to…
The problem of measurement in quantum mechanics is reanalyzed within a general, strictly probabilistic framework (without reduction postulate). Based on a novel comprehensive definition of measurement the natural emergence of objective…
In quantum mechanics, measurements cause wavefunction collapse that yields precise outcomes, for non-commuting observables such as position and momentum Heisenberg's uncertainty principle limits the intrinsic precision of a state. Although…
Two of the most common interpretations of quantum measurement disagree about the fate of quantum amplitudes after measurement, yet this disagreement has not previously led to experimentally distinguishable predictions. In the standard…
It is proposed that the paradox of wave-particle duality in quantum mechanics may be resolved using a physical picture analogous to magnetic domains. Within this picture, a quantum particle represents a coherent region of a quantum wave…
Ultimately, any explanation of quantum measurement must be extendable to relativistic quantum mechanics (RQM), since many precisely confirmed experimental results follow from quantum field theory (QFT), which is based on RQM. Certainly, the…
J. v. Neumann justified the collapse postulate by the empirical fact of the repeatability of a measurement at a single quantum system. However, in his quantum mechanical treatment of the measurement process repeatability emerges without…
An analysis has been performed of the theories and postulates advanced by von Neumann, London and Bauer, and Wigner, concerning the role that consciousness might play in the collapse of the wave function, which has become known as the…
The collapse of a quantum state can be understood as a mathematical way to construct a joint probability density even for operators that do not commute. We can formalize that construction as a non-commutative, non-associative collapse…
The Schrodinger equation is incomplete, inherently unable to explain the collapse of the wavefunction caused by measurement; a fundamental issue known as the quantum measurement problem. Quantum mechanics is generally constrained by the…