Related papers: Quantum mechanics explained
It is a maxim often stated, yet rarely illustrated, that the combination of special relativity and quantum mechanics necessarily leads to quantum field theory. An elementary illustration is provided, using the familiar particle in a box,…
Quantum computation teaches us that quantum mechanics exhibits exponential complexity. We argue that the standard scientific paradigm of "predict and verify" cannot be applied to testing quantum mechanics in this limit of high complexity.…
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…
Earlier, we had presented \cite{heuristic} heuristic arguments to show that a {\em natural unification} of the ideas of the quantum theory and those underlying the general principle of relativity is achievable by way of the measure theory…
The usual Heisenberg uncertainty relation for position and momentum may be replaced by an exact equality, for suitably chosen measures of position and momentum uncertainty. This "exact" uncertainty relation is valid for_all_ pure states,…
The conventional postulate for the probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics is asymmetric in preparation and measurement, making retrodiction reliant on inference by use of Bayes' theorem. Here, a more fundamental symmetric…
Quantum mechanics has enjoyed a multitude of successes since its formulation in the early twentieth century. At the same time, it has generated puzzles that persist to this day. These puzzles have inspired a large literature in physics and…
One of the key ways in which quantum mechanics differs from relativity is that it requires a fixed background reference frame for spacetime. In fact, this appears to be one of the main conceptual obstacles to uniting the two theories.…
Classical mechanics involves position and momentum variables that must be special coordinates chosen to promote to suitable quantum operators. Since classical variables may be broadly chosen, only unique variables should be chosen. We will…
A general principle of `causal duality' for physical systems, lying at the base of representation theorems for both compound and evolving systems, is proved; formally it is encoded in a quantaloidal setting. Other particular examples of…
This paper provides theorems aimed at shedding light on issues in the foundations of quantum mechanics. These theorems can be used to propose new interpretations to the theory, or to better understand, evaluate and improve current…
We reformulate the problem of the "interpretation of quantum mechanics" as the problem of DERIVING the quantum mechanical formalism from a set of simple physical postulates. We suggest that the common unease with taking quantum mechanics as…
We show that if one starts with a Universe with some matter and a cosmological constant, then quantum mechanics naturally induces an attractive gravitational potential and an effective Newton's coupling. Thus gravity is an emergent…
In spite of all of its successes, quantum mechanics leaves us with a central problem: How does Nature create a "foot-bridge" from fragile quanta to the objective world of everyday experience? Here we identify within quantum mechanics a…
The procedure used to "do physics" in the macroscopic world is familiar: You take an object, start it off with a particular position and velocity, subject it to known forces (say gravity or friction, or both), and follow its trajectory. You…
A suitable unified statistical formulation of quantum and classical mechanics in a *-algebraic setting leads us to conclude that information itself is noncommutative in quantum mechanics. Specifically we refer here to an observer's…
Quantum coherence is important in quantum mechanics, and its essence is from superposition principle. We study the coherence of any two pure states and that of their arbitrary superposition, and obtain the relationship between them. In the…
The orthodox quantum mechanics can describe results of observation but not an objective reality. Misunderstanding of its positivistic essence results to numerous mistaken publications, in particular about a possibility of a real quantum…
We consider the problem of gambling on a quantum experiment and enforce rational behaviour by a few rules. These rules yield, in the classical case, the Bayesian theory of probability via duality theorems. In our quantum setting, they yield…
Nearing a century since its inception, quantum mechanics is as lively as ever. Its signature manifestations, such as superposition, wave-particle duality, uncertainty principle, entanglement and nonlocality, were long confronted as weird…