Related papers: Testing the limits of quantum mechanical superposi…
The question as to whether or not quantum mechanics is applicable to the macroscopic scale has motivated efforts to generate superposition states of macroscopic numbers of particles and to determine their effective size. Superpositions of…
The principle of linear superposition is a hallmark of quantum theory. It has been confirmed experimentally for photons, electrons, neutrons, atoms, for molecules having masses up to ten thousand amu, and also in collective states such as…
We review a possible framework for (non)linear quantum theories, into which linear quantum mechanics fits as well, and discuss the notion of ``equivalence'' in this setting. Finally, we draw the attention to persisting severe problems of…
After a summary of Bohr's views and their relation to Kant's theory of science, two fruitless lines of attack on the measurement problem are discussed: the way of the psi-ontologist and the way of the QBist. In the remainder of the paper…
Quantum thermodynamics is an emerging research field aiming to extend standard thermodynamics and non-equilibrium statistical physics to ensembles of sizes well below the thermodynamic limit, in non-equilibrium situations, and with the full…
The superposition principle is the cornerstone of quantum mechanics, leading to a variety of genuinely quantum effects. Whether the principle applies also to macroscopic systems or, instead, there is a progressive breakdown when moving to…
Two questions are suggested as having priority when trying to bring together Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity. Both questions have a scope which goes well beyond Physics, and in particular Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity.
The problem of understanding quantum mechanics is in large measure the problem of finding appropriate ways of thinking about the spatial and temporal aspects of the physical world. The standard, substantival, set-theoretic conception of…
The spin-statistics connection, quantum gravity and other physical considerations suggest that classical space-time topology is not an immutable attribute and can change in quantum physics. The implementation of topology change using…
We present a review and discussions on characterizations and quantifications of macroscopic quantum states as well as their implementations and applications in optical systems. We compare and criticize different measures proposed to define…
The ontology emerging from quantum field theory and the results following from Bell's theorems allowed the development of an intuitive picture of the microscopic world described by quantum mechanics, that is, we can say that we understand…
A discussion of the quantum mechanical use of superposition or entangled states shows that descriptions containing only statements about state vectors and experiments outputs are the most suitable for Quantum Mechanics. In particular, it is…
I explore whether it is possible to make sense of the quantum mechanical description of physical reality by taking the proper subject of physics to be correlation and only correlation, and by separating the problem of understanding the…
Decoherence may not solve all of the measurement problems of quantum mechanics. It is proposed that a solution to these problems may be to allow that superpositions describe physically real systems in the following sense. Each quantum…
Quantum physics is surprising in many ways. One surprise is the threat to locality implied by Bell's Theorem. Another surprise is the capacity of quantum computation, which poses a threat to the complexity-theoretic Church-Turing thesis. In…
According to quantum theory, a scientist in a sealed laboratory cannot tell whether they are inside a superposition or not. Consequently, so long as they remain isolated, they can assume without inconsistency that their measurements result…
Quantum field theory offers physicists a tremendously wide range of application; it is both a language with which a vast variety of physical processes can be discussed and also it provides a model for fundamental physics, the so-called…
The notion of a macroscopic quantum state must be pinned down in order to assess how well experiments probe the large-scale limits of quantum mechanics. However, the issue of quantifying so-called quantum macroscopicity is fraught with…
To date, both quantum theory, and Einstein's theory of general relativity have passed every experimental test in their respective regimes. Nevertheless, almost since their inception, there has been debate surrounding whether they should be…
The possibility of fundamental theories with very many ground states, each with different physical parameters, changes the way that we approach the major questions of particle physics. Most importantly, it raises the possibility that these…