scholarly journals A local deterministic model of quantum spin measurement

The conventional view, that Einstein was wrong to believe that quantum physics is local and deterministic, is challenged. A parametrized model, ' Q ' for the state vector evolution of spin-1/2 particles during measurement is developed. Q draws on recent work on ‘riddled basins’ in dynamical systems theory, and is local, determin­istic, nonlinear and time asymmetric. Moreover, the evolution of the state vector to one of two chaotic attractors (taken to represent observed spin states) is effectively uncomputable. Motivation for considering this model arises from speculations about the (time asymmetric and uncomputable) nature of quantum gravity, and the (nonlinear) role of gravity in quantum state vector reduction. Although the evolution of Q s state vector cannot be determined by a numerical algorithm, the probability that initial states in some given region of phase space will evolve to one of these attractors, is itself computable. These probabilities can be made to correspond to observed quantum spin probabilities. In an ensemble sense, the evolution of the state vector to an attractor can be described by a diffusive random walk process, suggesting that deterministic dynamics may underlie recent attempts to model state vector evolution by stochastic equations. Bell’s theorem and a version of the Bell-Kochen-Specker quantum entanglement paradox, as illustrated by Penrose’s ‘magic dodecahedra’, are discussed using Q as a model of quantum spin measurement. It is shown that in both cases, proving an inconsistency with locality demands the existence of definite truth values to certain counterfactual propositions. In Q these deterministic propositions are uncomputable, and no non-algorithmic mathematical solution is either known or suspected. Adapt­ing the mathematical formalist approach, the non-existence of definite truth values to such counterfactual propositions is posited. No inconsistency with experiment is found. As a result, it is claimed that Q is not constrained by Bell’s inequality, locality and determinism notwithstanding.

The state vector of a quantized system of fields is defined as a functional of external source functions. Physical quantities are related to operators acting on such functionals. This corresponds to an over-all space-time view in which the state describes a space-time evolution and the state vector is not related to any special space-like surface. The field equations are derived by means of a simple formal quantization and are expressed as supplementary conditions restricting the state functionals. The equations are satisfied by generating functionals defined in the three-dimensional operator theory and were given previously. An investigation of the concept of functionals of anticommuting source functions leads immediately to the consideration of an antisymmetric tensor space with its creation and annihilation operators. The creation and annihilation operators introduced by Coester correspond to another representation and the connexion can be easily established. The relationship between different formal solutions of the field equations given by Coester, Nambu and Anderson, and Skyrme is made apparent. An interchange of the role of creation and annihilation operators, which amounts to a functional Fourier transformation, leads to an alternative description in which the state vector of the quantized system is given by a functional of fields which are functions of the four space-time co-ordinates.


2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Pellam

This paper offers a challenge to the conventional view of the lex sacrata which the Romans believed to have accompanied the establishment of the plebeian tribunate. According to most scholars, the lex sacrata was not technically a lex (law), but was rather an oath sworn by the plebs, enjoining them to protect the persons of the tribunes and to punish with death anyone who should harm the holders of this office. Originally it was only this oath that gave the tribunes their power, which developed into a true office of the Roman state only gradually. This interpretation serves as one of the major props in the widely-held interpretation of the early Roman Republic as being characterized by a “struggle of the orders” in which the plebeians formed a revolutionary “state within the state,” separate and distinct from the legitimate state, which was controlled by the patricians. By reexamining the sources for the traditional interpretation of the lex sacrata, this paper shows that all of the evidence suggests that the lex sacrata which guaranteed the inviolability of the plebeian tribunes was, in fact, a law of the Roman community, and that there is little if any support for the “oath” interpretation. With this understanding, a major prop in the communis opinio about the early Republic is undermined. Finally, the paper offers an alternative hypothesis for the role of leges sacratae in the development of the Republic.


2019 ◽  
pp. 231-258
Author(s):  
P.J.E. Peebles

This chapter reviews measurement theory in quantum mechanics. The measurement prescription in quantum mechanics can be stated in a few lines and has found an enormous range of applications, in all of which it has proved to be consistent with logic and experimental tests. However, the implications seem so bizarre that people such as Albert Einstein and Eugene Wigner have argued that the theory cannot be physically complete as its stands. The chapter then extends the prescription to the case where the state vector is not known. It also discusses some of the “paradoxes” of quantum mechanics. Finally, the chapter presents Bell's theorem, which shows that there cannot be a local underlying deterministic theory for which quantum mechanics plays the role of a statistical approximation.


1966 ◽  
Vol 15 (03/04) ◽  
pp. 519-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Levin ◽  
E Beck

SummaryThe role of intravascular coagulation in the production of the generalized Shwartzman phenomenon has been evaluated. The administration of endotoxin to animals prepared with Thorotrast results in activation of the coagulation mechanism with the resultant deposition of fibrinoid material in the renal glomeruli. Anticoagulation prevents alterations in the state of the coagulation system and inhibits development of the renal lesions. Platelets are not primarily involved. Platelet antiserum produces similar lesions in animals prepared with Thorotrast, but appears to do so in a manner which does not significantly involve intravascular coagulation.The production of adrenal cortical hemorrhage, comparable to that seen in the Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome, following the administration of endotoxin to animals that had previously received ACTH does not require intravascular coagulation and may not be a manifestation of the generalized Shwartzman phenomenon.


2003 ◽  
pp. 66-76
Author(s):  
I. Dezhina ◽  
I. Leonov

The article is devoted to the analysis of the changes in economic and legal context for commercial application of intellectual property created under federal budgetary financing. Special attention is given to the role of the state and to comparison of key elements of mechanisms for commercial application of intellectual property that are currently under implementation in Russia and in the West. A number of practical suggestions are presented aimed at improving government stimuli to commercialization of intellectual property created at budgetary expense.


2006 ◽  
pp. 87-96
Author(s):  
Yu. Shvetsov

The article considers the problem of bureaucratisation of the state and the most important social and economic consequences of this phenomenon. The essence of bureaucracy has been revealed, characteristic features of its functioning in Russia have been analyzed; the material base of bureaucracy and its dominating status in the society have been substantiated. The conclusion has been made that the process of changing the role of the budget to serve the interests of bureaucracy is being accomplished.


Author(s):  
Ruth Kinna

This book is designed to remove Peter Kropotkin from the framework of classical anarchism. By focusing attention on his theory of mutual aid, it argues that the classical framing distorts Kropotkin's political theory by associating it with a narrowly positivistic conception of science, a naively optimistic idea of human nature and a millenarian idea of revolution. Kropotkin's abiding concern with Russian revolutionary politics is the lens for this analysis. The argument is that his engagement with nihilism shaped his conception of science and that his expeditions in Siberia underpinned an approach to social analysis that was rooted in geography. Looking at Kropotkin's relationship with Elisée Reclus and Erico Malatesta and examining his critical appreciation of P-J. Proudhon, Michael Bakunin and Max Stirner, the study shows how he understood anarchist traditions and reveals the special character of his anarchist communism. His idea of the state as a colonising process and his contention that exploitation and oppression operate in global contexts is a key feature of this. Kropotkin's views about the role of theory in revolutionary practice show how he developed this critique of the state and capitalism to advance an idea of political change that combined the building of non-state alternatives through direct action and wilful disobedience. Against critics who argue that Kropotkin betrayed these principles in 1914, the book suggests that this controversial decision was consistent with his anarchism and that it reflected his judgment about the prospects of anarchistic revolution in Russia.


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