Related papers: Theories of Physics and Impossibilities
Counterfactuals in quantum theory are briefly reviewed and it is argued that they are very different from counterfactuals considered in the general philosophical literature. The issue of time symmetry of quantum counterfactuals is…
This book examines a number of problems of quantum mechanics, most of which are not usually discussed. What is the origin of probabilities in the mechanics of the microworld? What is the nature of Planck's constant h? What is the nature of…
We give a review of concepts related to connection of classical and quantum theories, from the phase space perspective. Quantum theory is described by non-commutative operators of coordinates and momenta, results in values having a certain…
I review some recent advances in foundational research at Pavia QUIT group. The general idea is that there is only Quantum Theory without quantization rules, and the whole Physics---including space-time and relativity--is emergent from the…
Defects or junctions in materials serve as a source of interactions for particles, and in idealized limits they may be treated as singular points yielding contact interactions. In quantum mechanics, these singularities accommodate an…
A common understanding of quantum mechanics (QM) among students and practical users is often plagued by a number of "myths", that is, widely accepted claims on which there is not really a general consensus among experts in foundations of…
General non-commutative supersymmetric quantum mechanics models in two and three dimensions are constructed and some two and three dimensional examples are explicitly studied. The structure of the theory studied suggest other possible…
The stipulation that no measurable quantity could have an infinite value is indispensable in physics. At the same time, in mathematics, the possibility of considering an infinite procedure as a whole is usually taken for granted. However,…
We discuss that there is a crucial contradiction within quantum mechanics. We derive a proposition concerning a quantum expectation value under the assumption of the existence of the directions in a spin-1/2 system. The quantum predictions…
This survey, aimed at information processing researchers, highlights intriguing but lesser known results, corrects misconceptions, and suggests research areas. Themes include: certainty in quantum algorithms; the "fewer worlds" theory of…
Symmetries are widely used in modeling quantum systems but they do not contribute in postulates of quantum mechanics. Here we argue that logical, mathematical, and observational evidence require that symmetry should be considered as a…
The search for a consistent and empirically established quantum theory of gravity is among the biggest open problems of fundamental physics. The obstacles are of formal and of conceptual nature. Here, I address the main conceptual problems,…
The geometric form of standard quantum mechanics is compatible with the two postulates: 1) The laws of physics are invariant under the choice of experimental setup and 2) Every quantum observation or event is intrinsically statistical.…
One of the key features of quantum mechanics is the interference of probability amplitudes. The reason for the appearance of interference is mathematically very simple. It is the linear structure of the Hilbert space which is used for the…
The role of the Uncertainty Principle is examined through the examples of squeezing, information capacity, and position monitoring. It is suggested that more attention should be directed to conceptual considerations in quantum information…
The uncertainty relation is a distinguishing feature of quantum theory, characterizing the incompatibility of noncommuting observables in the preparation of quantum states. Recently, many uncertainty relations were proposed with improved…
On the base of years of experience of working on the problem of the physical foundation of quantum mechanics the author offers principles of solving it. Under certain pressure of mathematical formalism there has raised a hypothesis of…
This introductory text on the basics of quantum mechanics is intended to serve as a kind of travel guide through the quantum world. It starts by asking whether quantum physics is important, or weird, or incomprehensible. It explains why…
If quantum mechanics is taken for granted the randomness derived from it may be vacuous or even delusional, yet sufficient for many practical purposes. "Random" quantum events are intimately related to the emergence of both space-time as…
The paper emphasis the role of unsharpness in the body of Quantum Theory and the relations to the conceptual problems of the Theory. Key words: quantum measurement, unsharpness, effect, positive operator-valued measure