Related papers: The subtle sound of quantum jumps
The measurement problem in quantum mechanics is almost exclusively discussed in situations where gravity is ignored. We discuss some recent developments in our understanding of quantum gravity and argue that they significantly alter the…
The quantum-to-classical transition hinges on the nature of wavefunction collapse, which remains a central controversy in foundational physics. Objective collapse theories aim to modify quantum mechanics by introducing a physical,…
A type of mechanics will be presented that possesses some distinctive properties. On the one hand, its physical description & rules of operation are readily comprehensible & intuitively clear. On the other, it fully satisfies all observable…
The speed-up provided by quantum algorithms with respect to their classical counterparts is at the origin of scientific interest in quantum computation. However, the fundamental reasons for such a speed-up are not yet completely understood…
Endeavoring to formulate an exhaustive solution to the measurement problem in view of the theory of decoherence leads to a better understanding of the status of the collapse and of the emergence of classicality, thanks to a precise…
I have been arguing that quantum nonlocality, deeply entrenched in the present formalism of quantum mechanics and widely believed as a reality by physicists, is in fact absent. Spooky nonlocal state reduction is the most, and perhaps the…
Collapse models possibly suggest the need for a better understanding of the structure of space-time. We argue that physical space, and space-time, are emergent features of the Universe, which arise as a result of dynamical collapse of the…
I study the quantum mechanics of a spin interacting with an ``apparatus''. Although the evolution of the whole system is unitary, the spin evolution is not. The system is chosen so that the spin exhibits loss of quantum coherence, or…
Is the universe digital or analog? In this essay I argue that both classical and quantum physics include limits that prevent us from definitively answering that question. That quantum physics does so is no surprise. That classical physics…
The question whether quantum measurements reflect some underlying objective reality has no generally accepted answer. We show that description of such reality is possible under natural conditions such as linearity and causality, although in…
The transition between distinct phases of matter is characterized by the nature of fluctuations near the critical point. We demonstrate that noise spectroscopy can not only diagnose the presence of a phase transition, but can also determine…
Quantum mechanics forces us to reconsider certain aspects of classical causality. The 'central mystery' of quantum mechanics manifests in different ways, depending on the interpretation. This mystery can be formulated as the possibility of…
Ultimately, any explanation of quantum measurement must be extendable to relativistic quantum mechanics (RQM), since many precisely confirmed experimental results follow from quantum field theory (QFT), which is based on RQM. Certainly, the…
A quantum spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ chain with an axial symmetry is normally described by quasiparticles associated with the spins oriented along the axis of rotation. Kinetic constraints can enrich such a description by setting apart different…
Our aim is to experimentally study the possibility of distinguishing between quantum sources of randomness--recently proved to be theoretically incomputable--and some well-known computable sources of pseudo-randomness. Incomputability is a…
The collapse of a quantum state can be understood as a mathematical way to construct a joint probability density even for operators that do not commute. We can formalize that construction as a non-commutative, non-associative collapse…
The present paper is based upon equations obtained in an earlier paper by the author devoted to a new formulation of quantum electrodynamics. The equations describe the structure of the electron as well as its motion in external fields,…
Although quantum mechanics is one of our most successful physical theories, there has been a long-standing debate about the interpretation of the wave function---the central object of the theory. Two prominent views are that (i) it…
Quantum mechanics (QM) has attracted a considerable amount of mysticism, in public opinion and even among academic researches, due to some of its conceptually puzzling features, such as the modification of reality by the observer and…
After the development of a self-consistent quantum formalism nearly a century ago, there ensued a quest to understand the often counterintuitive predictions of the theory. These endeavors invariably begin with the assumption of the "truth"…