Related papers: The universe remembers no wavefunction collapse
We consider two straightforward rules that govern the stochastic choice in a single quantum mechanical event. They are shown to lead to absurd results if an objective state reduction is allowed to compete with an observer state reduction.…
Almost a century after the development of quantum mechanics, we still do not have a consensus on the process of collapse of wavefunctions. Some theories require the intervention of a conscious observer while some see it as a stochastic…
We show that one may interpret physical reality as random fields in space-time. These have a probability given by the expectation of a coherent state projection operator, called the Q-function. The resulting dynamical evolution includes…
The linearity of quantum mechanics leads, under the assumption that the wave function offers a complete description of reality, to grotesque situations famously known as Schroedinger's cat. Ways out are either adding elements of reality or…
Three postulates are discussed: first that well-defined properties cannot be assigned to an isolated system, secondly that quantum unitary evolution is atemporal, and thirdly that some physical processes are never reversed. It is argued…
The decoherence interpretation of quantum measurements is applied to Wigner's friend experiments. A framework in which all the experimental outcomes arise from unitary evolutions is proposed. Within it, a measurement is not completed until…
This note starts with a recapitulation of what people call the ``Measurement Problem'' of Quantum Mechanics (QM). The dissipative nature of the quantum-mechanical time-evolution of averages of states over large ensembles of identical…
The measurement postulate of quantum theory stands in conflict with the laws of thermodynamics and has evoked debate regarding what actually constitutes a measurement. With the help of modern quantum statistical mechanics, we take the first…
A thought experiment is considered on observation of instantaneous collapse of an extended wave packet. According to relativity of simultaneity, such a collapse being instantaneous in some reference frame must be a lasting process in other…
A theory of quantum measurement was introduced some time ago that was based on the notion of the so-called separation status. This separation status had a spatial, local character, so that the theory worked only in special cases.…
A quantum theory of the universe consists of a theory of its quantum dynamics and a theory of its quantum state The theory predicts quantum multiverses in the form of decoherent sets of alternative histories describing the evolution of the…
A succinct statement and justification of all the principles necessary to understand and evaluate interpretations of quantum mechanics is given. These principles provide strong constraints on interpretations. They imply the particle-like…
The initial conditions of our universe appear to us in the form of a classical probability distribution that we probe with cosmological observations. In the current leading paradigm, this probability distribution arises from a quantum…
We examine the entanglement and state disturbance arising in a protective measurement and argue that these inescapable effects doom the claim that protective measurement establishes the reality of the wave function. An additional challenge…
The idea that wave-function collapse is a physical process stems from a misunderstanding of probability and the role it plays in quantum mechanics.
We reconsider a well known problem of quantum theory, i.e. the so called measurement (or macro-objectification) problem, and we rederive the fact that it gives rise to serious problems of interpretation. The novelty of our approach derives…
In order to relate the probabilistic predictions of quantum theory uniquely to measurement results, one has to conceive of an ensemble of identically prepared copies of the quantum system under study. Since the universe is the total domain…
We consider a continuous measurement of a two-level system (double-dot) by weakly coupled detector (tunnel point contact nearby). While usual treatment leads to the gradual system decoherence due to the measurement, we show that the…
The traditional, standard approach to quantum theory is to assume that the theory ``really'' contains only unitary physical dynamics--i.e., that the only physically quantifiable evolution is that given by the time-dependent Schrodinger…
One of the main postulates of quantum mechanics is that measurements destroy quantum coherence (wave function collapse). Recently it was discovered that in a many-body system dilute local measurements still preserve some coherence across…