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In this paper a didactic approach is described which immediately leads to an understanding of those postulates of quantum mechanics used most frequently in quantum computation. Moreover, an interpretation of quantum mechanics is presented…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2008-01-22 Christian Jansson

In this paper we intend to discuss the importance of providing a physical representation of quantum superpositions which goes beyond the mere reference to mathematical structures and measurement outcomes. This proposal goes in the opposite…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2017-09-19 Christian de Ronde

We define a class of Copenhagenish interpretations encompassing modern interpretations that follow the Copenhagen spirit. These interpretations are characterized by four postulates: Observers Observe, Universality, Anti-$\psi$-ontology, and…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-07-28 David Schmid , Yìlè Yīng , Matthew Leifer

We reformulate the problem of the "interpretation of quantum mechanics" as the problem of DERIVING the quantum mechanical formalism from a set of simple physical postulates. We suggest that the common unease with taking quantum mechanics as…

High Energy Physics - Theory · Physics 2007-05-23 Carlo Rovelli

The field of interpretation of quantum mechanics emerged in an attempt to solve the measurement problem. This turned on the perception that Niels Bohr avoided addressing the measurement problem by taking an instrumentalist view of quantum…

History and Philosophy of Physics · Physics 2023-08-03 Govind Krishnan.

During many years since the birth of quantum mechanics, instrumentalist interpretations prevailed: the meaning of the theory was expressed in terms of measurements results. But in the last decades, several attempts to interpret it from a…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2016-03-15 Olimpia Lombardi , Sebastian Fortin , Cristian Lopez

In this paper, we investigate similarities and differences between the main neo-Copenhagen (or "epistemic-pragmatist") interpretations of quantum mechanics, here identified as those defined by the rejection of an ontological nature of the…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-02-25 Ali Barzegar , Daniele Oriti

Quantum mechanics notoriously faces the measurement problem, the problem that if read thoroughly, it implies the nonexistence of definite outcomes in measurement procedures. A plausible reaction to this and to related problems is to regard…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2016-04-19 Florian Boge

Applications of quantum mechanics have led to many successful predictions and explanations of puzzling phenomena, and we now apply quantum mechanics to gain, process, and communicate information in novel ways. We can understand quantum…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2026-04-03 Richard Healey

We introduce a realist, unextravagant interpretation of quantum theory that builds on the existing physical structure of the theory and allows experiments to have definite outcomes, but leaves the theory's basic dynamical content…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2014-06-09 Jacob A. Barandes , David Kagan

A formulation of quantum mechanics based on an operational definition of state is presented. This formulation, which includes explicitly the macroscopic systems, assumes the probabilistic interpretation and is nevertheless objective. The…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2007-05-23 Rodrigo Medina

Understanding the core content of quantum mechanics requires us to disentangle the hidden logical relationships between the postulates of this theory. Here we show that the mathematical structure of quantum measurements, the formula for…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2019-04-02 Lluís Masanes , Thomas D. Galley , Markus P. Müller

This paper presents the measurement problem from the point of view of the thermal interpretation of quantum physics introduced in Part II. The measurement of a Hermitian quantity $A$ is regarded as giving an uncertain value approximating…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2019-04-25 Arnold Neumaier

The quantum measurement problem, the unresolved conflict between the unitary evolution of the wave function and the postulate of wave function collapse, remains the most profound conceptual challenge in quantum foundations. While…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-09-17 Eyad I. B Hamid

Measurement in quantum mechanics is generally described as an irreversible process that perturbs the wavefunction describing a quantum system. In this work we establish a formal connection between the measurement description within the…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2016-05-17 Fabio L. Traversa , Guillermo Albareda

Quantum measurement is a fundamental concept in the field of quantum mechanics. The action of quantum measurement, leading the superposition state of the measured quantum system into a definite output state, not only reconciles…

General Physics · Physics 2024-08-13 Wei Wen

In this work we analyze the deep link between the 20th Century positivist re-foundation of physics and the famous measurement problem of quantum mechanics. We attempt to show why this is not an "obvious" nor "self evident" problem for the…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2020-01-03 Christian de Ronde

Any realist interpretation of quantum theory must grapple with the measurement problem and the status of state-vector collapse. In a no-collapse approach, measurement is typically modeled as a dynamical process involving decoherence. We…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2020-09-22 Jacob A. Barandes , David Kagan

In these notes, based on lectures given as part of the Les Houches summer school on Quantum Optics and Nanophotonics in August, 2013, I have tried to give a brief survey of some important approaches and modern tendencies in quantum…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2014-06-24 Aephraim M. Steinberg

Three problems stand in the way of deriving classical theories from quantum mechanics: those of realist interpretation, of classical properties and of quantum measurement. Recently, we have identified some tacit assumptions that lie at the…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2015-06-03 Petr Hajicek