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In this paper, we suggest an alternative interpretation for the quantum state vector, which, by considering temporal parts for physical objects, aims to give an intelligible account of measurement problem in quantum mechanics. We examine…
We study the response of switched particle detectors to static negative energy densities and negative energy fluxes. It is demonstrated how the switching leads to excitation even in the vacuum and how negative energy can lead to a…
Weak values inferred from weak measurements have been proposed as a tool to investigate trajectories of pre- and post-selected quantum systems. Are the inferences drawn from the weak values about the past of a quantum particle fully true?…
"Weak measurements" -- involving a weak unitary interaction between a quantum system and a meter followed by a projective measurement -- are investigated when the system has a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. We show in particular how the…
Traditional uncertainty relations dictate a minimal amount of noise in incompatible projective quantum measurements. However, not all measurements are projective. Weak measurements are minimally invasive methods for obtaining partial state…
I review some recent results showing that the physics of negative energy densities, as predicted by relativistic quantum field theories, is more complicated than has generally been appreciated. On the one hand, in external potentials where…
The regularized vacuum energy (or energy density) of a quantum field subjected to static external conditions is shown to satisfy a certain partial differential equation with respect to two variables, the mass and the "time" (ultraviolet…
The operational definition of a weak value for a quantum mechanical system involves the limit of the weak measurement strength tending to zero. I study how this limit compares to the situation for the undisturbed (no weak measurement)…
In quantum field theory it is generally known that the energy density may be negative at a given point in spacetime. A number of papers have shown that there is a restriction on this energy density which is called a quantum inequality (QI).…
Small changes in an external parameter can often lead to dramatic qualitative changes in the lowest energy quantum mechanical ground state of a correlated electron system. In anisotropic crystals, such as the high temperature…
By generalizing the quantum weak measurement protocol to the case of quantum fields, we show that weak measurements probe an effective classical background field that describes the average field configuration in the spacetime region between…
The quantum eraser variant of the double-slit experiment, and its 'delayed choice' sub-variant, are considered from the perspective of weak value and weak measurement theory (which is briefly reintroduced here). The interference fringes…
Although entangled state vectors cannot be described in terms of classically realistic variables, localized in space and time, any given entanglement experiment can be built from basic quantum circuit components with well-defined locations.…
We show that the weak value of any observable in pre- and post-selected states can be expressed as the sum of the average of the observable in the pre-selected state and an anomalous part. We argue that at a fundamental level the anomalous…
The equation of motion for a time-independent weak value of a quantum mechanical observable contains a complex valued energy factor - the weak energy of evolution. This quantity is defined by the dynamics of the pre-selected and…
A relation is obtained between weak values of quantum observables and the consistency criterion for histories of quantum events. It is shown that ``strange'' weak values for projection operators (such as values less than zero) always…
The effective classical/quantum dynamics of a particle constrained on a closed line embedded in a higher dimensional configuration space is analyzed. By considering explicit examples it is shown how different reduction mechanisms produce…
The weak value of a variable O is a description of an effective interaction with that variable in the limit of weak coupling. It is particularly important for a pre- and post-selected quantum system.
The indeterminism of quantum mechanics generally permits the independent specification of both an initial and a final condition on the state. Quantum pre-and-post-selection of states opens up a new, experimentally testable, sector of…
Certain exotic phenomena in general relativity, such as backward time travel, appear to require the presence of matter with negative energy. While quantum fields are a possible source of negative energy densities, there are lower bounds -…