Related papers: The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (II)
An attempt is made to formulate quantum mechanics (QM) in physical rather than in mathematical terms. It is argued that the appropriate conceptual framework for QM is "contextual objectivity", which includes an objective definition of the…
Ultimately, any explanation of quantum measurement must be extendable to relativistic quantum mechanics (RQM), since many precisely confirmed experimental results follow from quantum field theory (QFT), which is based on RQM. Certainly, the…
We briefly review a number of major features of the approach to quantum measurement theory based on environment-induced decoherence of the measuring apparatus, and summarize our observations in the form of a couple of general principles…
The assumption that wave function collapse is induced by correlating interactions of the kind that constitute measurements leads to a stochastic collapse equation that does not require the introduction of any new physical constants and that…
This paper discusses the relation between the decoherent histories approach to quantum mechanics that is based on coarse-grained decoherent histories of a closed system, and the approximate quantum mechanics of measured subsystems, as in…
Interpretations of key concepts, such as uncertainty relations, kinetic energy, value of an observable, probability distributions, the projection or collapse of a wave function postulate, and discrete versus continuous values, that appear…
This paper is an in depth implementation of the proposal that the quantum measurement issue can be resolved by carefully looking at top-down contextual effects within realistic measurement contexts. The specific setup of the measurement…
The standard approach to quantum measurements is to assume that they lead to effectively instantaneous collapse of the quantum state. However, if we assume that we are unable to enforce at what exact moment of time the measurement occurs…
The quantum mechanical measurement process is considered. A hypothetical concept of irrational dynamical variables is proposed. A possible definition of measurement is discussed along with a mathematical method to calculate experimental…
A fundamental prediction of quantum theory that is derived from the "projection postulate" is that under continuous measurement, the state of a system traces out a "quantum trajectory" in time that depends upon its measurement record, and…
Although quantum mechanics is one of our most successful physical theories, there has been a long-standing debate about the interpretation of the wave function---the central object of the theory. Two prominent views are that (i) it…
It is argued that a realistic interpretation of quantum mechanics is possible and useful. Current interpretations, from Copenhagen to many worlds are critically revisited. The difficulties for intuitive models of quantum physics are pointed…
Wavefunction collapse is commonly associated with unavoidable physical disturbance of the measured system. Here we show that in driven-dissipative quantum systems, continuous measurement can induce strong trajectory-level collapse while…
The underlying physics of quantum mechanics has been discussed for decades without an agreed resolution to many questions. The measurement problem, wave function collapse and entangled states are mired in complexity and the difficulty of…
In this paper we examine some proposals to disprove the hypothesis that the interaction between mind and matter causes the collapse of the wave function, showing that such proposals are fundamentally flawed. We then describe a general…
Quantum mechanics is usually presented starting from a series of postulates about the mathematical framework. In this work we show that those same postulates can be derived by assuming that measurements are discrete interactions: that is,…
A model of quantum measurement, illustrated using the spin--boson model, is formulated in terms of a cascading pair of quantum phase transitions. The first produces the desired superposition of macroscopic responses to the microscopic state…
Based on the modelling of quantum systems with the aid of (classical) non-equilibrium thermodynamics, both the emergence and the collapse of the superposition principle are understood within one and the same framework. Both are shown to…
The speculation that gravity is the key to solving the quantum measurement problem has been alive for decades, without any convincing demonstration of a solution. One necessary factor in the relevant proposals is that the gravitational…
Theories of spontaneous wavefunction collapse offer an explanation of the possible breakdown of quantum mechanics for macroscopic systems. However, the challenge of resolving predicted collapse signatures above background noise has…