Related papers: Meaning of the wave function
Symmetry plays a central role in many areas of modern physics. Here we show that it also underpins the dual particle and wave nature of quantum systems. We begin by noting that a classical point particle breaks translational symmetry…
A modified form of quantum mechanics which includes a new mechanism for wavefunction collapse is proposed. The collapse provides a solution to the quantum measurement problem. This modified quantum mechanics is shown to arise naturally from…
In this paper, we study the physical meaning of the wavefunction of the universe. With the continuity equation derived from the Wheeler-DeWitt (WDW) equation in the minisuperspace model, we show that the quantity $\rho(a)=|\psi(a)|^2$ for…
We discuss recent developments in the study of quantum wavefunctions and transport in classically ergodic systems. Surprisingly, short-time classical dynamics leaves permanent imprints on long-time and stationary quantum behavior, which are…
Since the discovery of quantum mechanics, the fact that the wavefunction is defined on the $3\mathbf{n}$-dimensional configuration space rather than on the $3$-dimensional space has seemed uncanny to many, including Schr\"odinger, Lorentz,…
The wave function of the universe is evaluated by using the Euclidean path integral approach. As is well known, the real Euclidean path integral diverges because the Einstein-Hilbert action is not positive definite. In order to obtain a…
We study the quantum mechanical motion of massive particles in a system of two coupled waveguide potentials, where the population transfer between the waveguides effectively acts as a clock and allows particle velocities to be determined.…
The nonrelativistic wavefunction of a quantum state that contains all its information is derived directly from the effective quantum fields of the standard model of particle physics, which are the fundamental elements of reality of the…
There are several definitions of energy density in quantum mechanics. These yield expressions that differ locally, but all satisfy a continuity equation and integrate to the value of the expected energy of the system under consideration.…
Realism -- the idea that the concepts in physical theories refer to 'things' existing in the real world -- is introduced as a tool to analyze the status of the wave-function. Although the physical entities are recognized by the existence of…
Detection of a material particle is accompanied by emission of bremsstrahlung. Thus the dynamics of the energy loss of the particle is determined by radiation reaction force. The description of radiation reaction is a difficult problem…
This paper proposes an interpretation of quantum mechanics, relying on the time-symmetric stochastic dynamics of quantum particles and on non-classical probability theory. Our main purpose is to demonstrate that the wave function and its…
A stochastic model for nondemolition continuous measurement in a quantum system is given. It is shown that the posterior dynamics, including a continuous collapse of the wave function, is described by a nonlinear stochastic wave equation.…
Bohmian mechanics is a theory that provides a consistent explanation of quantum phenomena in terms of point particles whose motion is guided by the wave function. In this theory, the state of a system of particles is defined by the actual…
Stationary electromagnetic waves display aspects that are shared with massive particles, since the energy and momentum contained in a volume of sides equal to the wavelengths form a non-zero energy-momentum invariant. The parallel can be…
The dynamics of a quantum particle is governed by its wavefunction, which in turn is determined by the classical potential to which it is subjected. However the wavefunction itself induces a quantum potential, the particle `sees' the sum of…
We investigate the dynamics of a charged particle interacting with a multimode quantized electromagnetic field and obtain an analytic solution for the full electron--field system. This framework enables the calculation of position…
It is shown that `bipartite' wave functions can present a mathematical formalism of quantum theory for a single particle, in which the associated Schr\"{o}dinger's wave functions correspond to those `bipartite' wave functions of product…
Several new physics experiments in 1998 were performed and analyzed to show the subtlety of quantum theory, including the "wave-particle duality" and the non-separability of two-particle entangled state. Here it is shown that the…
Set theory brought revolution to philosophy of mathematics and it can bring revolution to philosophy of physics too. All that stands in the way is the intuition that sets of physical objects cannot themselves be physical objects, which…