Related papers: The histories interpretation: stability instead of…
Classical mechanics and standard Copenhagen quantum mechanics respect subspace implications. For example, if a particle is confined in a particular region $R$ of space, then in these theories we can deduce that it is confined in regions…
When part of the environment responsible for decoherence is used to extract information about the decohering system, the preferred {\it pointer states} remain unchanged. This conclusion -- reached for a specific class of models -- is…
We reconsider the Decoherent Histories approach to Quantum Mechanics and we analyze some problems related to its interpretation which, according to us, have not been adequately clarified by its proponents. We put forward some assumptions…
We discuss some features of the Decoherent Histories approach. We consider four assumptions, the first three being in our opinion necessary for a sound interpretation of the theory, while the fourth one is accepted by the supporters of the…
In choosing a family of histories for a system, it is often convenient to choose a succession of locations in phase space, rather than configuration space, for comparison to classical histories. Although there are no good projections onto…
I briefly review the ''decohering histories'' or ''consistent histories'' formulation of quantum theory, due to Griffiths, Omnes, and Gell-Mann and Hartle (and the subject of my graduate work with George Sudarshan). I also sift through the…
The decoherent histories approach is a natural medium in which to address problems in quantum theory which involve time in a non-trivial way. This article reviews the various attempts and difficulties involved in using the decoherent…
A wide-ranging theory of decoherence is derived from the quantum theory of irreversible processes, with specific results having for their main limitation the assumption of an exact pointer basis.
The inherent difficulty in talking about quantum decoherence in the context of quantum cosmology is that decoherence requires subsystems, and cosmology is the study of the whole Universe. Consistent histories gave a possible answer to this…
We introduce a new notion of consistency for 2-events quantum histories, based on the concept of mirror projection. Contrary to all notions of consistency so far introduced, our consistency, named self-decoherence, is an individual…
The basic ingredients of the `consistent histories' approach to a generalized quantum theory are `histories'and decoherence functionals. The main aim of this program is to find and to study the behaviour of consistent sets associated with a…
The theory of decoherence attempts to explain the emergent classical behaviour of a quantum system interacting with its quantum environment. In order to formalize this mechanism we introduce the idea that the information preserved in an…
It is shown that the conclusion of the paper "Hidden assumptions in decoherence theory" (quant-ph/0001021) is the result of a misunderstanding of the concept of pointer states. It is argued that pointer states are selected by the…
The consistent histories formalism is discussed using path-projected states. These are used to analyse various criteria for approximate consistency. The connection between the Dowker-Halliwell criterion and sphere packing problems is shown…
Within the decoherent histories formulation of quantum mechanics, we consider arbitrarily long histories constructed from a fixed projective partition of a finite-dimensional Hilbert space. We review some of the decoherence properties of…
The usual composition rule of independent systems, as applied to decoherent histories or to linearly positive histories, requires (at least) medium decoherence and, consequently, a second constraint for the linearly positive histories of…
A major problem in the consistent-histories approach to quantum theory is contending with the potentially large number of consistent sets of history propositions. One possibility is to find a scheme in which a unique set is selected in some…
We study decoherence properties of arbitrarily long histories constructed from a fixed projective partition of a finite dimensional Hilbert space. We show that decoherence of such histories for all initial states that are naturally induced…
This paper explores conditions of existence of different types of consistent tests. New links of these types of consistency are also established. The existence of discernible (strong consistent) tests follows from the existence of pointwise…
In a recent paper Griffiths claims that the consistent histories interpretation of quantum mechanics gives rise to results that contradict those obtained from the Bohm interpretation. This is in spite of the fact that both claim to provide…