Related papers: The Tenth Article of Ettore Majorana
Since the advent of quantum mechanics we have mainly been concerned with its predictions from the perspective of an external observer. This is in strong contrast to the theory of general relativity, where the physics is governed by the…
It is shown that quantum mechanics is, like thermodynamics, a phenomenological theory i.e., not a causal theory, ( not because it is a statistical theory - statistical theories with caused probability distributions can be regarded as…
The role of time in quantum mechanics is discussed. The differences between ordinary observables and an observable which corresponds to the time of an event is examined. In particular, the time-of-arrival of a particle to a fixed location…
Fermi helped establish a new framework for understanding matter, based on quantum theory. This framework refines and improves traditional atomism in two crucial respects. First, the elementary constituents of matter belong to a very small…
In textbooks on statistical mechanics, one finds often arguments based on classical mechanics, phase space and ergodicity in order to justify the second law of thermodynamics. However, the basic equations of motion of classical mechanics…
We argue that the intractable part of the measurement problem -- the 'big' measurement problem -- is a pseudo-problem that depends for its legitimacy on the acceptance of two dogmas. The first dogma is John Bell's assertion that measurement…
We present some basic inequalities between the classical and quantum values of free energy, entropy and mean energy. We investigate the transition from the deterministic case (classical mechanics) to the probabilistic case (quantum…
It is proposed to define "quantumness" of a system (micro or macroscopic, physical, biological, social, political) by starting with understanding that quantum mechanics is a statistical theory. It says us only about probability…
The main distinction between classical mechanics and quantum mechanics is the lack in the latter of a full mechanical determinism: different final states can arise from the same physical state, after the measurement. No hidden variable is…
It is shown how to resolve the apparent contradiction between the macroscopic approach of phase space and the validity of the uncertainty relations. The main notions of statistical mechanics are re-interpreted in a quantum-mechanical way,…
Using the principles of the ETH - Approach to Quantum Mechanics we study fluorescence and the phenomenon of ``quantum jumps'' in idealized models of atoms coupled to the quantized electromagnetic field. In a limiting regime where the…
Based at a talk given at the Kato Centennial Symposium in Sept. 2017, this article discusses the scientific life and some of the scientific work of T. Kato.
We review here the main contributions of Einstein to the quantum theory. To put them in perspective we first give an account of Physics as it was before him. It is followed by a brief account of the problem of black body radiation which…
The aim of the paper is to derive essential elements of quantum mechanics from a parametric structure extending that of traditional mathematical statistics. The main extensions, which also can be motivated from an applied statistics point…
Everettian Quantum Mechanics, or the Many Worlds Interpretation, lacks an explanation for quantum probabilities. We show that the values given by the Born rule equal projection factors, describing the contraction of Lebesgue measures in…
Non-relativistic quantum mechanics is shown to emerge from classical mechanics through the requirement of a relativity principle based on special transformations acting on position and momentum uncertainties. These transformations keep the…
Concept of inertial mass is not well defined in physics. For defining inertial mass of a particle we need to know its acceleration under some force in an inertial reference frame, which itself is defined by the motion of its background…
The paper has heuristic character. The conceptual frame, based on the assumption of quantum uncertainty only, has been formerly introduced in two papers [S. Tosto, Il Nuovo Cimento B, vol. 111, n.2, 1996 and S. Tosto, Il Nuovo Cimento D,…
This paper constitutes a background to the paper 'Quantum mechanics as "space-time statistical mechanics"?', arXiv:quant-ph/0501133, presented previously by the author. But it is also a free-standing and self-contained paper. The purpose of…
Carlo Cercignani was known all over the world for his works on the Boltzmann equation and on kinetic theory. There was however another aspect of his scientific life, which is not much known. Namely, his interest for the foundations of…