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The feasibility of wave function collapse in the human brain has been the subject of vigorous scientific debates since the advent of quantum theory. Scientists like Von Neumann, London, Bauer and Wigner (initially) believed that wave…
Is wave function collapse a prediction of the Schr\"odinger equation? This unusual problem is explored in an enlarged framework of interpretation, where quantum dynamics is considered exact and its interpretation is extended to include…
We show that the quantum wavefunction, interpreted as the probability density of finding a single non-localized quantum particle, which evolves according to classical laws of motion, is an intermediate description of a material quantum…
Loop quantum cosmology is an application of recent developments for a non-perturbative and background independent quantization of gravity to a cosmological setting. Characteristic properties of the quantization such as discreteness of…
The relationship between classical and quantum mechanics is explored in an intuitive manner by the exercise of constructing a wave in association with a classical particle. Using special relativity, the time coordinate in the frame of…
Quantum mechanics is an outstandingly successful description of nature, underpinning fields from biology through chemistry to physics. At its heart is the quantum wavefunction, the central tool for describing quantum systems. Yet it is…
Four problematic circumstances are considered, involving models which describe dynamical wavefunction collapse toward energy eigenstates, for which it is shown that wavefunction collapse of macroscopic objects does not work properly. In one…
In 1948, Schwinger developed a local Lorentz covariant formulation of relativistic quantum electrodynamics in space-time which is fundamentally inconsistent with any delocalized interpretation of quantum mechanics. An interpretation…
Classical linear wave superposition produces the appearance of interference. This observation can be interpreted in two equivalent ways: one can assume that interference is an illusion because input components remain unperturbed, or that…
We develop a quantum-cosmological framework in which the inflationary potential emerges from the structure of the wave function of the universe rather than being postulated. Starting from the Wheeler-DeWitt equation for a flat…
A unifying principle explaining the numerical bounds of quantum correlations remains elusive despite the efforts devoted to identifying it. Here we show that these bounds are indeed not exclusive to quantum theory: for any abstract…
Is the wave function a physical reality traveling through our apparatus? Is it a real wave, or it is only a mathematical tool for calculating probabilities of results of measurements? Different interpretations of the quantum mechanics (QM)…
Two thought experiments are analyzed, revealing that the quantum state of the universe does not contain definitive evidence of the wavefunction collapse. The first thought experiment shows that unitary quantum evolution alone can account…
An assessment is given as to the extent to which pure unitary evolution, as distinct from environmental decohering interaction, can provide the transition necessary for an observer to interpret perceived quantum dynamics as classical. This…
Causal quantum theory is an umbrella term for ordinary quantum theory modified by two hypotheses: state vector reduction is a well-defined process, and strict local causality applies. The first of these holds in some versions of Copenhagen…
We suggest that qualia have a causally efficacious role in quantum mechanics; an occurrence which explains how information about qualia can enter the physical environment. This is compatible with the unitary time-evolution of the quantum…
An experiment is presented in which the alleged progression of a photon's wave function is ``measured'' by a row of superposed atoms. The photon's wave function affects only one out of the atoms, regardless of its position within the row,…
Bell's theorem states that some quantum correlations can not be represented by classical correlations of separated random variables. It has been interpreted as incompatibility of the requirement of locality with quantum mechanics. We point…
The possibility of consistency between the basic quantum principles of quantum mechanics and wave function collapse is reexamined. A specific interpretation of environment is proposed for this aim and applied to decoherence. When the…
The nonrelativistic wavefunction of a quantum state that contains all its information is derived directly from the effective quantum fields of the standard model of particle physics, which are the fundamental elements of reality of the…