Related papers: Why quantum dynamics is linear
A basic linearity of quantum dynamics, that density matrices are mapped linearly to density matrices, is proved very simply for a system that does not interact with anything else. It is assumed that at each time the physical quantities and…
According to quantum theory, a scientist in a sealed laboratory cannot tell whether they are inside a superposition or not. Consequently, so long as they remain isolated, they can assume without inconsistency that their measurements result…
The vast majority of the literature dealing with quantum dynamics is concerned with linear evolution of the wave function or the density matrix. A complete dynamical description requires a full understanding of the evolution of measured…
Experiments that look for nonlinear quantum dynamics test the fundamental premise of physics that one of two separate systems can influence the physical behavior of the other only if there is a force between them, an interaction that…
The nature of a physical law is examined, and it is suggested that there may not be any fundamental dynamical laws. This explains the intrinsic indeterminism of quantum theory. The probabilities for transition from a given initial state to…
We show that the basic dynamical rules of quantum physics can be derived from its static properties and the condition that superluminal communication is forbidden. More precisely, the fact that the dynamics has to be described by linear…
Two recent arguments for linear dynamics in quantum theory are critically re-examined. Neither argument is found to be satisfactory as it stands, although an improved version of one of the arguments can in fact be given. This improved…
There are four reasons why our present knowledge and understanding of quantum mechanics could be regarded as incomplete. Firstly, the principle of linear superposition has not been experimentally tested for position eigenstates of objects…
We consider a physical system in which the description of states and measurements follow the usual quantum mechanical rules. We also assume that the dynamics is linear, but may not be fully quantum (i.e unitary). We show that in such a…
If there exists a formulation of quantum mechanics which does not refer to a background classical spacetime manifold, it then follows as a consequence, (upon making one plausible assumption), that a quantum description of gravity should be…
Quantum mechanics in its presently known formulation requires an external classical time for its description. A classical spacetime manifold and a classical spacetime metric are produced by classical matter fields. In the absence of such…
Quantum theory is extremely successful in explaining most physical phenomena, and is not contradicted by any experiment. Yet, the theory has many puzzling features : the occurrence of probabilities, the unclear distinction between the…
The dynamical equation satisfied by the density matrix, when a quantum system is subjected to one or more constraints arising from conserved quantities, is derived. The resulting nonlinear motion of the density matrix has the property that…
We show that the linearity of an evolution of Quantum Mechanics follows from the definition of kinematics. The same result is obtained for an arbitrary theory with the state space that includes mixtures of different preparations. Next, we…
The manner in which unpredictable chaotic dynamics manifests itself in quantum mechanics is a key question in the field of quantum chaos. Indeed, very distinct quantum features can appear due to underlying classical nonlinear dynamics. Here…
Linearity of a dynamical entropy means that the dynamical entropy of the n-fold composition of a dynamical map with itself is equal to n times the dynamical entropy of the map for every positive integer n. We show that the quantum dynamical…
In a recent Letter, Bennett and coworkers [1] argue that proofs of exotic quantum effects using closed timelike curves (CTC's) based on the work of Deutsch [2], or other nonlinear quantum dynamics, suffer from a fallacy that they call the…
A number of recent studies have proposed that linear representations are appropriate for solving nonlinear dynamical systems with quantum computers, which fundamentally act linearly on a wave function in a Hilbert space. Linear…
The physics of many closed, conservative systems can be described by both classical and quantum theories. The dynamics according to classical theory is symplectic and admits linear instabilities which would initially seem at odds with a…
Linearity allows several versions of reality to simultaneously exist in the state vector. But it implies that there is no interaction between versions, and that there will never be perception of more than one version. It also implies, in…