Related papers: Schr\"odinger's Cat -- Amended
With 2025 being declared the Year of Quantum Science and Technology, our contribution seeks to provide a fresh perspective on Schr\"odinger's cat thought experiment. We reinterpret this experiment by viewing it through the lens of quantum…
Non-relativistic quantum mechanics is shown to emerge from classical mechanics through the requirement of a relativity principle based on special transformations acting on position and momentum uncertainties. These transformations keep the…
The quantum-to-classical transition hinges on the nature of wavefunction collapse, which remains a central controversy in foundational physics. Objective collapse theories aim to modify quantum mechanics by introducing a physical,…
Within the framework of the individuality interpretation of quantum theory (QT), the basic equations of QT cannot be derived from the basic equations of classical mechanics (CM). The unbridgeable gap between CM and QT is given by the fact…
In our quantum mechanics courses, measurement is usually taught in passing, as an ad-hoc procedure involving the ugly collapse of the wave function. No wonder we search for more satisfying alternatives to the Copenhagen interpretation. But…
Modified versions of the Schr\"{o}dinger equation have been proposed in order to incorporate the description of measurement processes into the mathematical structure of quantum theory. Typically, these proposals introduce new physical…
During a continuous measurement, quantum systems can be described by a stochastic Schr\"odinger equation which, in the appropriate limit, reproduces the von Neumann wave-function collapse. The average behavior on the ensemble of all…
In this paper, we present a collection of results on the observability of quantum mechanical systems, in the case the output is the result of a discrete nonselective measurement. By defining an effective observable we extend previous…
We consider two straightforward rules that govern the stochastic choice in a single quantum mechanical event. They are shown to lead to absurd results if an objective state reduction is allowed to compete with an observer state reduction.…
Ever since the advent of quantum mechanics, it has been clear that the atoms composing matter do not obey Newton's laws. Instead, their behavior is described by the Schroedinger equation. Surprisingly though, until recently, no clear…
Macroscopic objects appear to have definite positions. In a many-worlds interpretation of quantum theory, this appearance is an illusion; the correct view is the "view from outside" in which even macroscopic objects are in general in a…
Recently a study of the first superposed mechanical quantum object ("machine") visible to the naked eye was published. However, as we show, it turns out that if the object would actually be observed, i.e. would interact with an optical…
We extend Einstein's hole argument into the quantum domain, and argue that quantum observables for quasiclassical superpositional states of gravitational fields require additional information to be well-defined, namely, relative positions…
Taking the decoherence into account, we investigate nonclassical features of the optical Schr\"odinger cat states in one mode and two coupled-modes systems with two-photon driving. In the one mode system, the relationship between the…
The paper attempts to convince that the orthodox interpretation of quantum mechanics does not contradict philosophical realism by throwing light onto certain properties of quantum systems that seem to have escaped attention as yet. The…
Everett's interpretation of quantum mechanics was proposed to avoid problems inherent in the prevailing interpretational frame. It assumes that quantum mechanics can be applied to any system and that the state vector always evolves…
This paper proposes an experiment designed to distinguish between competing interpretations of quantum mechanics: those that involve wave function collapse and those that assume purely unitary evolution. The experiment tests whether an…
This MSc dissertation surveys nine interpretations of non-relativistic quantum mechanics. Extensive references are given. The interpretations covered are: the orthodox interpretation, Bohr's interpretation, the idea that the mind causes…
With the example of a Stern-Gerlach measurement on a spin-1/2 atom, we show that a superposition of both paths may be observed compatibly with properties attributed to state collapse - for example, the singleness (or mutual exclusivity) of…
A novel interpretation of the quantum mechanical superposition is put forward. Quantum systems scan all possible available states and switch randomly and very rapidly among them. The longer they remain in a given state, the larger the…