Related papers: Statistical Mechanics of Amplifying Apparatus
In this work we analyze the deep link between the 20th Century positivist re-foundation of physics and the famous measurement problem of quantum mechanics. We attempt to show why this is not an "obvious" nor "self evident" problem for the…
Statistical formulations of thermodynamic entropy, such as those by Boltzmann and Gibbs, were originally developed for classical systems and are well understood in that context. However, the foundational aspects of quantum statistical…
Throughout quantum mechanics there is statistical balance, in the collective response of an ensemble of systems to differing measurement types. Statistical balance is a core feature of quantum mechanics, underlying quantum mechanical…
Finding a physically consistent approach to modelling interactions between classical and quantum systems is a highly nontrivial task. While many proposals based on various mathematical formalisms have been made, most of these efforts run…
It has been shown that a macroscopic system being in a high-temperature thermal coherent state can be, in principle, driven into a non-classical state by coupling to a microscopic system. Therefore, thermal coherent states do not truly…
Quantum mechanics postulates the existence of states determined by a particle position at a single time. This very concept, in conjunction with superposition, induces much of the quantum-mechanical structure. In particular, it implies the…
The measurement postulate of quantum theory stands in conflict with the laws of thermodynamics and has evoked debate regarding what actually constitutes a measurement. With the help of modern quantum statistical mechanics, we take the first…
It is shown that Schroedinger's equation may be derived from three postulates. The first is a kind of statistical metamorphosis of classical mechanics, a set of two relations which are obtained from the canonical equations of particle…
We propose a system of equations to describe the interaction of a quasiclassical variable $X$ with a set of quantum variables $x$ that goes beyond the usual mean field approximation. The idea is to regard the quantum system as continuously…
Based on quantum statistical mechanics and microscopic quantum dynamics, we prove Planck's and Kelvin's principles for macroscopic systems in a general and realistic setting. We consider a hybrid quantum system that consists of the…
We study the possibility of applying statistical mechanics to generally covariant quantum theories with a vanishing Hamiltonian. We show that (under certain appropiate conditions) this makes sense, in spite of the absence of a notion of…
Consider a statistical model with an epistemic restriction such that, unlike in classical mechanics, the allowed distribution of positions is fundamentally restricted by the form of an underlying momentum field. Assume an agent (observer)…
We develop a general formulation of quantum statistical mechanics in terms of probability currents that satisfy continuity equations in the multi-particle position space, for closed and open systems with a fixed number of particles. The…
The probability `measure' for measurements at two consecutive moments of time is non-additive. These probabilities, on the other hand, may be determined by the limit of relative frequency of measured events, which are by nature additive. We…
In quantum physics, all measured observables are subject to statistical uncertainties, which arise from the quantum nature as well as the experimental technique. We consider the statistical uncertainty of the so-called sampling method, in…
We study the dynamics of classical and quantum systems undergoing a continuous measurement of position by schematizing the measurement apparatus with an infinite set of harmonic oscillators at finite temperature linearly coupled to the…
Quantum statistical mechanics is formulated as an integral over classical phase space. Some details of the commutation function for averages are discussed, as is the factorization of the symmetrization function used for the grand potential…
In the mid-19th century, both the laws of mechanics and thermodynamics were known, and both appeared fundamental. This was changed by Boltzmann and Gibbs, who showed that thermodynamics can be *derived*, by applying mechanics to very large…
Descriptions of molecular systems usually refer to two distinct theoretical frameworks. On the one hand the quantum pure state, i.e. the wavefunction, of an isolated system which is determined to calculate molecular properties and to…
In classical estimation theory, the central limit theorem implies that the statistical error in a measurement outcome can be reduced by an amount proportional to n^(-1/2) by repeating the measures n times and then averaging. Using quantum…