Related papers: The wavefunction as a true ensemble
Testable predictions of quantum mechanics are invariant under time reversal. But the change of the quantum state in time is not so, neither in the collapse nor in the no-collapse interpretations of the theory. This fact challenges the…
We assume that particles are point-like objects even when not observed. We report on the consequences of our assumption within the realm of quantum theory. An important consequence is the necessity of vacuum fields to account for particle…
There are reasons to doubt that making sense of the wave function (other than as a probability algorithm) will help with the project of making sense of quantum mechanics. The consistency of the quantum-mechanical correlation laws with the…
An overview of the Pondicherry interpretation of quantum mechanics is presented. This interpretation proceeds from the recognition that the fundamental theoretical framework of physics is a probability algorithm, which serves to describe an…
In classical physics, probabilistic or statistical knowledge has been always related to ignorance or inaccurate subjective knowledge about an actual state of affairs. This idea has been extended to quantum mechanics through a completely…
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…
A formulation of quantum mechanics, which begins by postulating assertions for individual physical systems, is given. The statistical predictions of quantum mechanics for infinite ensembles are then derived from its assertions for…
An interpretation of the probability flux is given, based on a derivation of its eigenstates and relating them to coherent state projections on a quantum wavefunction. An extended definition of the flux operator is obtained using coherent…
The reconstruction of quantum states from a sufficient set of experimental data can be achieved with arbitrarily weak measurement interactions. Since such weak measurements have negligible back-action, the quantum state reconstruction is…
We propose the idea that in Bohmian mechanics the wavefunction is related to a density of states and explore some of its consequences. Specifically, it allows a maximum-entropy interpretation of quantum probabilities, which creates a…
It is proved the mathematical theorem, that the wave function describes the statistical ensemble of particles, but not a single particle. Supposition, that the wave function describes a single particle appears to be incompatible with…
Perhaps the quantum state represents information about reality, and not reality directly. Wave function collapse is then possibly no more mysterious than a Bayesian update of a probability distribution given new data. We consider models for…
I show that probabilities in quantum mechanics are a measure of belief in the presence of human ignorance, just like all other probabilities. The Born interpretation of the square of modulus of the wave function arises from the interaction…
What is the quantum system? Consider the wavefunction of the electron, what we call single particle wave-function and assume that it contains N wave packets. If we pass all the wave packets through an electric field, all are deflected, as…
In this paper, I attempt a personal account of my understanding of the measurement problem in quantum mechanics, which has been largely in the tradition of the Copenhagen interpretation. I assume that (i) the quantum state is a…
We present an improved version of Berry's ansatz able to incorporate exactly the existence of boundaries and the correct normalization of the eigenfunction into an ensemble of random waves. We then reformulate the Random Wave conjecture…
We present a semiclassical approach to eigenfunction statistics in chaotic and weakly disordered quantum systems which goes beyond Random Matrix Theory, supersymmetry techniques, and existing semiclassical methods. The approach is based on…
Recently, it has been argued that quantum mechanics is a complete theory, and that different quantum states do necessarily correspond to different elements of reality, under the assumptions that quantum mechanics is correct and that…
The quantum state of a light beam can be represented as an infinite dimensional density matrix or equivalently as a density on the plane called the Wigner function. We describe quantum tomography as an inverse statistical problem in which…
The spread of the wave-function, or quantum uncertainty, is a key notion in quantum mechanics. At leading order, it is characterized by the quadratic moments of the position and momentum operators. These evolve and fluctuate independently…