Related papers: Does the Mott problem extend to Geiger counters?
The Mott problem asks: Is there a microphysical mechanism - based only on Schroedinger's equation - that explains why an alpha particle emitted in a spherically symmetric nuclear decay produces a non-spherically-symmetric single track in a…
I review and augment my work of the last few years on the physical origins and limitations of canonical quantum measurement behavior. Central to this work is a detailed analysis of the microstructure of real measurement devices. Particular…
The measurement problem in quantum mechanics originates in the inability of the Schr\"odinger equation to predict definite outcomes of measurements. This is due to the lack of objectivity of the eigenstates of the measuring apparatus. Such…
The hypothesis by Sparenberg et al. (2013) that the particular linear tracks appearing in the measurement of a spherically-emitting radioactive source in a cloud chamber are determined by the (random) positions of atoms or molecules inside…
Using publicly available video of a diffusion cloud chamber with a very small radioactive source, I measure the spatial distribution of where tracks start, and consider possible implications. This is directly relevant to the quantum…
The aim of this review is to discuss in a pedagogical way the problem of the emergence of a classical behavior in certain physical systems which, in principle, are correctly described by quantum mechanics. It is stressed that the limit…
We consider a simple model of a cloud chamber consisting of a test particle (the alpha-particle) interacting with two other particles (the atoms of the vapour) subject to attractive potentials centered in $a_1, a_2 \in \mathbb{R}^3$. At…
A long-standing quantum-mechanical puzzle is whether the collapse of the wave function is a real physical process or simply an epiphenomenon. This puzzle lies at the heart of the measurement problem. One way to choose between the…
We experimentally demonstrate coherent light scattering from an atomic Mott insulator in a two-dimensional lattice. The far-field diffraction pattern of small clouds of a few hundred atoms was imaged while simultaneously laser cooling the…
The apparent random outcome of a quantum measurement is conjectured to be fundamentally determined by the microscopic state of the macroscopic measurement apparatus. The apparatus state thus plays the role of a hidden variable which, in…
Recording the fluorescence of a magneto-optical trap (MOT) is a standard tool for measuring atom numbers in experiments with ultracold atoms. When trapping few atoms in a small MOT, the emitted fluorescence increases with the atom number in…
We design non-singular cloaks enabling objects to scatter waves like objects with smaller size and very different shapes. We consider the Schrodinger equation which is valid e.g. in the contexts of geometrical and quantum optics. More…
Although quantum mechanics is a mature theory, fundamental problems discussed during its time of foundation have remained with us to this day. These problems are centered on the problematic relation between the quantum and classical worlds.…
Decoherence due to scattering from background gas particles is observed for the first time in a Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer, and compared with decoherence due to scattering photons. A single theory is shown to describe decoherence due…
We combine a recent mapping of the Anderson-Mott metal-insulator transition on a random-field problem with scaling concepts for random-field magnets to argue that disordered electrons near an Anderson-Mott transition show glass-like…
The connection between the problem of scattering a particle on a one-dimensional $\delta$-potential with the "Einstein's boxes" thought experiment is shown. In both cases, the validity of the superposition principle is limited by Einstein's…
We propose detecting the moment an atom emits a photon by means of a nearly classical macroscopic clock and discuss its viability. It is shown that what happens in such a measurement depends on the relation between the clock's accuracy and…
In scattering theory, the Wigner-Smith time delay, calculated through a phaseshift derivative or its multichannel generalization, has been demonstrated to measure the amount of delay or advance experienced by colliding particles during…
We study light scattering of single atoms in free space and discuss the results in terms of atom-photon entanglement and which-way information. Using ultracold atoms released from an optical lattice, we realize a Gedanken experiment which…
The collision of two ultra-cold atoms results in a quantum-mechanical superposition of two outcomes: each atom continues without scattering and each atom scatters as a spherically outgoing wave with an s-wave phase shift. The magnitude of…