Related papers: An Energy Puzzle in Quantum Collapse
The most dramatic developments in theoretical physics in the next millennium are likely to come when we make progress on so far unresolved foundational questions. In this essay I consider two of the deepest problems confronting us, the…
In this work we attempt to confront the orthodox widespread claim present in the foundational literature of Quantum Mechanics (QM) according to which 'superpositions are never actually observed in the lab'. In order to do so, we begin by…
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…
Two thought experiments are analyzed, revealing that the quantum state of the universe does not contain definitive evidence of the wavefunction collapse. The first thought experiment shows that unitary quantum evolution alone can account…
The measurement problem is to explain why a system which is in a linear combination of states appears, upon measurement, to be in just one of those states. The solution given here is to first show that if one assumes linear, unitary, no…
For some ideal quantum measurements, conservation laws would seem to be violated systematically. It is argued that the intrinsically non-"ideal" nature of quantum measurements rescues the conservation laws.
In this work, we show that very natural, apparently simple problems in quantum measurement theory can be undecidable even if their classical analogues are decidable. Undecidability hence appears as a genuine quantum property here. Formally,…
The influence of continuous measurements of energy with a finite accuracy is studied in various quantum systems through a restriction of the Feynman path-integrals around the measurement result. The method, which is equivalent to consider…
Conservation laws are discussed in conjunction with quantum-mechanical indeterminacies of the corresponding observables. The considered examples show that the connections between energy and its indeterminacy may be quite intricate. The…
The measurement problem is the issue of explaining how the objective classical world emerges from a quantum one. Here we take a different approach. We assume that there is an objective classical system, and then ask that the standard rules…
The measurement process in quantum mechanics is usually described by the von Neumann projection postulate, which forms a basic constituent of the laws of quantum mechanics. Since this postulate requires the outside observer of the system,…
The paper reviews and discusses four ideas scattered in previous papers of the author. First, objective properties of quantum systems are not associated with observables but are defined by preparations. Second, measurable results of…
We study the maximal amount of energy that can be extracted from a finite quantum system by means of projective measurements. For this quantity we coin the expression "metrotropy" $\mathcal{M}$, in analogy with "ergotropy" $\mathcal{W}$,…
A satisfactory resolution of the persistent quantum measurement problem remains stubbornly unresolved in spite of an overabundance of efforts of many prominent scientists over the decades. Among others, one key element is considered yet to…
To prepare quantum states and extract information, it is often assumed that one can perform a perfectly projective measurement. Such measurements can achieve an uncorrelated system and environment state. However, perfectly projective…
The conceptual problems in quantum mechanics -- related to the collapse of the wave function, the particle-wave duality, the meaning of measurement -- arise from the need to ascribe particle character to the wave function. As will be shown,…
Given an ontological model of a quantum system, a "genuine measurement," as opposed to a quantum measurement, means an experiment that determines the value of a beable, i.e., of a variable that, according to the model, has an actual value…
This article presents recent progress in the theory of quantum measurement engines and discusses the implications of them for quantum interpretations and philosophical implications of the theory. Several new measurement engine designs are…
In a recent paper, PNAS, 118, e1921529118 (2021), it was argued that while the standard definition of conservation laws in quantum mechanics, which is of a statistical character, is perfectly valid, it misses essential features of nature…
In this paper, we present a thought experiment that demonstrates that the equivalence of quantum reduced states and statistical mixed states of ensembles is not merely a simple mathematical formulation in quantum mechanics, but rather…