scholarly journals UNDECIDABILITY AS SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF MEASUREMENT: FUNDAMENTAL CRITERION FOR THE PRODUCTION OF EVENTS

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (05) ◽  
pp. 909-918 ◽  
Author(s):  
RODOLFO GAMBINI ◽  
LUIS PEDRO GARCÍA-PINTOS ◽  
JORGE PULLIN
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Evolution Operator ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Reduction Process ◽  
Measurement Process ◽  
Interpretation Of Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Fundamental Limits ◽  
New Interpretation ◽  
Definition Of

In recent papers we put forth a new interpretation of quantum mechanics, colloquially known as "the Montevideo interpretation". This interpretation is based on taking into account fundamental limits that gravity imposes on the measurement process. As a consequence one has that situations develop where a reduction process is undecidable from an evolution operator. When such a situation is achieved, an event has taken place. In this paper we sharpen the definition of when and how events occur; more precisely we give sufficient conditions for the occurrence of events. We probe the new definition in an example. In particular we show that the concept of undecidability used is not "FAPP" (for all practical purposes), but fundamental.

ENTANGLEMENT, LOCALITY, AND SEPARABILITY: A TREATISE ON DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS

2007 ◽  
Vol 05 (01n02) ◽  
pp. 157-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
THOMAS KESSEMEIER ◽  
THOMAS KRÜGER
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
The Other ◽  
Statistical Interpretation ◽  
Interpretation Of Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Bell’S Inequality ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Common ◽  
Statistical Operator ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Non Locality

Within the framework of a statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics, entanglement (in a mathematical sense) manifests itself in the non-separability of the statistical operator ρ representing the ensemble in question. In experiments, on the other hand, entanglement can be detected, in the form of non-locality, by the violation of Bell's inequality Δ ≤ 2. How can these different viewpoints be reconciled? We first show that (non-)separability follows different laws to (non-)locality, and, moreover, it is much more difficult to characterize as long as the mostly employed operational rather than an ontic definition of separability is used. In consequence, (i) "entanglement" has two different meanings which may or may not be realized simultaneously on one and the same ensemble, and (ii) we have to disadvise the use of the common separability definition which is still employed by the majority of the physical community.

Science and exile: David Bohm, the cold war, and a new interpretation of quantum mechanics

2005 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
OLIVAL FREIRE
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Foundations Of Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Interpretation Of Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Causal Interpretation ◽  
David Bohm ◽  
New Interpretation ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
American Physicist

ABSTRACT In the early 1950s the American physicist David Bohm (1917-1992) produced a new interpretation of quantum mechanics and had to flee from McCarthyism. Rejected at Princeton, he moved to Sãão Paulo. This article focuses on the reception of his early papers on the causal interpretation, his Brazilian exile, and the culture of physics surrounding the foundations of quantum mechanics. It weighs the strength of the Copenhagen interpretation, discusses the presentation of the foundations of quantum mechanics in the training of physicists, describes the results Bohm and his collaborators achieved. It also compares the reception of Bohm's ideas with that of Hugh Everett's interpretation. The cultural context of physics had a more significant influence on the reception of Bohm's ideas than the McCarthyist climate.

CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF QUANTUM MECHANICS: THE ROLE OF EVIDENCE THEORY, QUANTUM SETS, AND MODAL LOGIC

1999 ◽  
Vol 10 (01) ◽  
pp. 29-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
GERMANO RESCONI ◽  
GEORGE J. KLIR ◽  
ELIANO PESSA
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Modal Logic ◽  
Set Theory ◽  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Evidence Theory ◽  
Foundations Of Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Interpretation Of Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Many Worlds ◽  
New Interpretation ◽  
Quantum Phenomena

Recognizing that syntactic and semantic structures of classical logic are not sufficient to understand the meaning of quantum phenomena, we propose in this paper a new interpretation of quantum mechanics based on evidence theory. The connection between these two theories is obtained through a new language, quantum set theory, built on a suggestion by J. Bell. Further, we give a modal logic interpretation of quantum mechanics and quantum set theory by using Kripke's semantics of modal logic based on the concept of possible worlds. This is grounded on previous work of a number of researchers (Resconi, Klir, Harmanec) who showed how to represent evidence theory and other uncertainty theories in terms of modal logic. Moreover, we also propose a reformulation of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics in terms of Kripke's semantics. We thus show how three different theories — quantum mechanics, evidence theory, and modal logic — are interrelated. This opens, on one hand, the way to new applications of quantum mechanics within domains different from the traditional ones, and, on the other hand, the possibility of building new generalizations of quantum mechanics itself.

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