Related papers: Can quantum mechanics be considered as statistical…
We attempt to contribute some novel points of view to the "foundations of quantum mechanics", using mathematical tools from "quantum probability theory" (such as the theory of operator algebras). We first introduce an abstract algebraic…
A collection of short expository essays by the author on various topics in quantum mechanics, quantum cosmology, and physics in general.
A version of quantum theory is derived from a set of plausible assumptions related to the following general setting: For a given system there is a set of experiments that can be performed, and for each such experiment an ordinary…
This introductory text on the basics of quantum mechanics is intended to serve as a kind of travel guide through the quantum world. It starts by asking whether quantum physics is important, or weird, or incomprehensible. It explains why…
This is a review of the basic theoretical ideas of quantum criticality, and of their connection to numerous experiments on correlated electron compounds. A shortened, modified, and edited version appeared in Physics Today. This arxiv…
"Ever since the advent of modern quantum mechanics in the late 1920's, the idea has been prevalent that the classical laws of probability cease, in some sense, to be valid in the new theory. [...] The primary object of this presentation is…
The "anomalous" values of C. Ferrie and J. Combes in Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 120404 (2014) say nothing about quantum - or even classical - physics. They are not analogues of the weak values that emerge when we describe the quantum world via…
This is an open letter on the nature of the quantum theory.
We consider the problem of gambling on a quantum experiment and enforce rational behaviour by a few rules. These rules yield, in the classical case, the Bayesian theory of probability via duality theorems. In our quantum setting, they yield…
The measurement conundrum seems to have plagued quantum mechanics for so long that impressions of an inconsistency amongst its axioms have spawned. A demonstration that such purported inconsistency is fictitious may then be in order and is…
This paper can be seen as an exercise in how to adapt quantum mechanics from a strict relativistic perspective while being respectful and critical towards the experimental achievements of the contemporary theory. The result is a fully…
We present critical arguments against individual interpretation of Bohr's complementarity and Heisenberg's uncertainty principles. Statistical interpretation of these principles is discussed in the contextual framework. We support the…
The PBR theorem has been hailed as one of the most important theorems in the foundations of quantum mechanics (QM), , cf. E. Samuel Reich, "Quantum theorem shakes foundations", Nature (2011). Here we argue that the special measurement, used…
The goal of this book is to present classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics in an almost completely algebraic setting, thereby introducing mathematicians, physicists, and engineers to the ideas relating classical…
We offer a fresh perspective on the relational interpretation of quantum mechanics as a way of thinking about the world described by quantum theory based on quantifiable notions of information. This allows us to provide a definition of a…
In physics, every observation is made with respect to a frame of reference. Although reference frames are usually not considered as degrees of freedom, in all practical situations it is a physical system which constitutes a reference frame.…
It is often said that quantum and classical randomness are of different nature, the former being ontological and the latter epistemological. However, so far the question of "What is quantum in quantum randomness", i.e. what is the impact of…
Quantum mechanics has irked physicists ever since its conception more than 100 years ago. While some of the misgivings, such as it being unintuitive, are merely aesthetic, quantum mechanics has one serious shortcoming: it lacks a physical…
The physical states of matter and fields are represented in the quantum theory with complex valued wavefunctions, or more generally by quantum states in an abstract linear vector space. Determining the physical nature of wavefunctions…
The quantum mechanical measurement process is considered. A hypothetical concept of irrational dynamical variables is proposed. A possible definition of measurement is discussed along with a mathematical method to calculate experimental…