scholarly journals Causality and the Modeling of the Measurement Process in Quantum Theory

Disputatio ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (47) ◽  
pp. 657-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian de Ronde
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Quantum Theory ◽  
Physical Meaning ◽  
Measurement Problem ◽  
Causal Models ◽  
Measurement Process ◽  
New Model ◽  
Final Cause ◽  
Efficient Cause ◽  
The Many

AbstractIn this paper we provide a general account of the causal models which attempt to provide a solution to the famous measurement problem of Quantum Mechanics (QM). We will argue that—leaving aside instrumentalism which restricts the physical meaning of QM to the algorithmic prediction of measurement outcomes—the many interpretations which can be found in the literature can be distinguished through the way they model the measurement process, either in terms of the efficient cause or in terms of the final cause. We will discuss and analyze why both, ‘final cause’ and ‘efficient cause’ models, face severe difficulties to solve the measurement problem. In contradistinction to these schemes we will present a new model based on the immanent cause which, we will argue, provides an intuitive understanding of the measurement process in QM.

Surfing the Quantum World

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank S. Levin
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Quantum Theory ◽  
Musical Instrument ◽  
Popular Science ◽  
Quantum Spin ◽  
Exclusion Principle ◽  
Maximum Height ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
The Many ◽  
The One

Surfing the Quantum World bridges the gap between in-depth textbooks and typical popular science books on quantum ideas and phenomena. Among its significant features is the description of a host of mind-bending phenomena, such as a quantum object being in two places at once or a certain minus sign being the most consequential in the universe. Much of its first part is historical, starting with the ancient Greeks and their concepts of light, and ending with the creation of quantum mechanics. The second part begins by applying quantum mechanics and its probability nature to a pedagogical system, the one-dimensional box, an analog of which is a musical-instrument string. This is followed by a gentle introduction to the fundamental principles of quantum theory, whose core concepts and symbolic representations are the foundation for most of the subsequent chapters. For instance, it is shown how quantum theory explains the properties of the hydrogen atom and, via quantum spin and Pauli’s Exclusion Principle, how it accounts for the structure of the periodic table. White dwarf and neutron stars are seen to be gigantic quantum objects, while the maximum height of mountains is shown to have a quantum basis. Among the many other topics considered are a variety of interference phenomena, those that display the wave properties of particles like electrons and photons, and even of large molecules. The book concludes with a wide-ranging discussion of interpretational and philosophic issues, introduced in Chapters 14 by entanglement and 15 by Schrödinger’s cat.

INTERPRETATION AND PREDICTABILITY OF QUANTUM MECHANICS AND QUANTUM COSMOLOGY

1988 ◽  
Vol 03 (07) ◽  
pp. 645-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUMIO WADA
Keyword(s):  
Wave Function ◽  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Quantum Theory ◽  
Physical Meaning ◽  
Quantum Cosmology ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Interpretation Of Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Probabilistic Interpretation ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Classical Picture

A non-probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics asserts that we get a prediction only when a wave function has a peak. Taking this interpretation seriously, we discuss how to find a peak in the wave function of the universe, by using some minisuperspace models with homogeneous degrees of freedom and also a model with cosmological perturbations. Then we show how to recover our classical picture of the universe from the quantum theory, and comment on the physical meaning of the backreaction equation.

scholarly journals A Phenomenological Reading of the Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joaquin Trujillo
Keyword(s):  
Wave Function ◽  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Measurement Problem ◽  
Copenhagen Interpretation ◽  
Interpretation Of Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Many Worlds ◽  
Standard Interpretation ◽  
Hermeneutic Phenomenological ◽  
Many Worlds Interpretation ◽  
The Many

The articles provides a phenomenological reading of the Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI) of quantum mechanics and its answer to the measurement problem, or the question of “why only one of a wave function’s probable values is observed when the system is measured.” Transcendental-phenomenological and hermeneutic-phenomenological approaches are employed. The project comprises four parts. Parts one and two review MWI and the standard (Copenhagen) interpretation of quantum mechanics. Part three reviews the phenomenologies. Part four deconstructs the hermeneutics of MWI. It agrees with the confidence the theory derives from its (1) unforgiving appropriation of the Schrödinger equation and (2) association of branching universes with the evolution of the wave function insofar as that understanding comes from the formalism itself. Part four also reveals the hermeneutical shortcomings of the standard interpretation.

scholarly journals FUNDAMENTAL SPATIO-TEMPORAL DECOHERENCE: A KEY TO SOLVING THE CONCEPTUAL PROBLEMS OF BLACK HOLES, COSMOLOGY AND QUANTUM MECHANICS

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 2181-2185 ◽  
Author(s):  
RODOLFO GAMBINI ◽  
RAFAEL A. PORTO ◽  
JORGE PULLIN
Keyword(s):  
Black Holes ◽  
Black Hole ◽  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Quantum Theory ◽  
Measurement Problem ◽  
Fundamental Level ◽  
Black Hole Information ◽  
Conceptual Problems ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Loss Of Coherence

Unitarity is a pillar of quantum theory. Nevertheless, it is also a source of several of its conceptual problems. We note that in a world where measurements are relational, as is the case in gravitation, quantum mechanics exhibits a fundamental level of loss of coherence. This can be the key to solving, among others, the puzzles posed by the black hole information paradox, the formation of inhomogeneities in cosmology and the measurement problem in quantum mechanics.

Quantum Becoming?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Callender
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Quantum Theory ◽  
Quantum Time ◽  
Quantum Non Locality ◽  
Time Quantum ◽  
Temporal Becoming ◽  
Non Locality ◽  
Quantum Wavefunction

Two of quantum mechanics’ more famed and spooky features have been invoked in defending the idea that quantum time is congenial to manifest time. Quantum non-locality is said by some to make a preferred foliation of spacetime necessary, and the collapse of the quantum wavefunction is held to vindicate temporal becoming. Although many philosophers and physicists seek relief from relativity’s assault on time in quantum theory, assistance is not so easily found.

Relational Blockworld and Quantum Mechanics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Silberstein ◽  
W.M. Stuckey ◽  
Timothy McDevitt
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Measurement Problem ◽  
Quantum Nonlocality ◽  
Global Constraints ◽  
Quantum Superposition ◽  
Delayed Choice ◽  
Counterfactual Definiteness ◽  
Main Thread ◽  
Block Universe ◽  
Contextual Emergence

The main thread of chapter 4 introduces some of the major mysteries and interpretational issues of quantum mechanics (QM). These mysteries and issues include: quantum superposition, quantum nonlocality, Bell’s inequality, entanglement, delayed choice, the measurement problem, and the lack of counterfactual definiteness. All these mysteries and interpretational issues of QM result from dynamical explanation in the mechanical universe and are dispatched using the authors’ adynamical explanation in the block universe, called Relational Blockworld (RBW). A possible link between RBW and quantum information theory is provided. The metaphysical underpinnings of RBW, such as contextual emergence, spatiotemporal ontological contextuality, and adynamical global constraints, are provided in Philosophy of Physics for Chapter 4. That is also where RBW is situated with respect to retrocausal accounts and it is shown that RBW is a realist, psi-epistemic account of QM. All the relevant formalism for this chapter is provided in Foundational Physics for Chapter 4.

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