The quantum-interpretations tag has no wiki summary.
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Ontology of the quantum field
I'll use QED as an example, but my question is relevant to any quantum field theory.
When we have a particle in QED, where is its charge contained in the field? Is the field itself charged? If so, ...
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How would a realist interpretation of the Mermin-Peres square look like?
How would a realist interpretation of the Mermin-Peres square with counterfactual definiteness and the existence of states prior to measurements look like?
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Could quantum mechanics work without the Born rule?
Slightly inspired by this question about the historical origins of the Born rule, I wondered whether quantum mechanics could still work without the Born rule. I realize it's one of the most ...
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4answers
142 views
Why do we consider the evolution (usually in time) of a wave function?
Why do we consider evolution of a wave function and why is the evolution parameter taken as time, in QM.
If we look at a simple wave function $\psi(x,t) = e^{kx - \omega t}$, $x$ is a point in ...
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Information conservation during quantum measurement in $\psi$-epistemic interpretations [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Information conservation during quantum measurement
I asked a version of the following quesiton previously on Physics.stackexchange, where it didn't get a lot of ...
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Is there anything wrong with the cybernetic interpretation of quantum mechanics by Ross Rhodes?
The interpretation is outlined here
It certainly gives a good logical explanation of most quantum oddities.
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How can new interpretations of QM help?
There is some current work on interpretations of quantum mechanics. How do you think can interesting results in that area help physics? Can it change quantum physics or make it easier?
Which ...
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The transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics
John Cramer’s transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics (TIQM) is billed as resolving the fuzzy agnosticism of the Copenhagen interpretation while avoiding the alleged ontological excesses of ...
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1answer
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Can silicon droplets bouncing on a vibrating surface be a model for Quantum Mechanics?
In
this video on
youtube
it is claimed that silicon droplets bouncing on a vibrating surface show behaviour in analogy to particle/wave duality in Quantum Mechanics.
Is this true? Did they ...
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Assumptions in Bell's Theorem
It is often Stated that Bell's Theorem is equivalent to the statement: No theory of Local Hidden Variables can reproduce all of the predictions of quantum mechanics. I see nowhere in Bell's Theorem ...
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What constitutes an observation/measurement in QM?
Fundamental notions of QM have to do with observation, a major example being The Uncertainty Principle.
What is the technical definition of an observation/measurement?
If I look at a QM system, it ...
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In consistent histories, is there temporal wavefunction collapse for IGUSes?
There is an IGUS. This IGUS has memory banks. At time t, this one IGUS has memories of some past observations stored in the memory banks. Then, it updates the memory banks at time t+1. Can this be ...
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3answers
398 views
Is the classical world an illusion?
In the paper
Zeh, H. D. The Wave Function: It or Bit? In Science and Ultimate Reality, eds. J.D. Barrow, P.C.W. Davies, and C.L. Harper Jr. (Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 103-120. ...
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Recent poll on quantum interpretations [closed]
I'm talking about this poll:
http://www.nature.com/news/experts-still-split-about-what-quantum-theory-means-1.12198
I don't now much about quantum mechanics but this reminded me of the state of math ...
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2answers
167 views
Do scientists literally believe the Schröedinger's cat though experiment?
I've heard the Schrödinger's cat "paradox" (although there's nothing particularly paradoxical about it, just counterintuitive), but I've never been clear on whether or not it's meant to be taken with ...
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169 views
Are probability-preserving variations of QT with respect to the Born rule mathematically possible?
Is it possible to create (m)any theoretically workable framework(s) - that do(es) produce probabilities - by taking QM and replacing the Born(-like) rule(s) with something that is not equivalent to it ...
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6answers
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Do we really know which slit the photon passed through in Afshar's experiment?
The plain old double slit experiment displays interference when we don't measure which slit the photon passed through, and no interference when it is measured. Let's turn our attention to the case ...
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Do multiple electrons exist during superposition?
Wikipedia says:
Quantum superposition is a fundamental principle of quantum mechanics that holds that a physical system—such as an electron—exists partly in all its particular, theoretically ...
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If nothing is “objectively real” prior to “measurement”, what exactly is a “measurement”?
If nothing is "objectively real" prior to "measurement", what exactly is a "measurement"?
Is there any "objective" criteria to demarcate a process as being a "measurement" or not? If "measurements" ...
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1answer
66 views
Is the time of collapse of the wave function empirical?
Is the time of the collapse of the wave function empirical?
Suppose there is a very long von Neumann chain of observations of a quantum system. Suppose also practically irreversible decoherence ...
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Consistent histories and Bohm mechanics, many worlds in disguise?
This was posted on here in someone's Phys.SE answer:
No, in the many worlds interpretation, every parallel universe is real, but in consistent histories, once you choose your projection operators, ...
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1answer
116 views
What is the spatial mode of light or the spatial mode of a massive particle?
I'm extremely confused by what physicists mean by the spatial mode of light. I am also equally if not more confused by what the spatial mode of a massive particle is. Can anyone help me out by ...
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Why is the tunnel effect of solid matter not observable in macroscopic objects?
Assume I place a tea cup on a table (say, about a centimetre thick). Quantum mechanics tells us that the wave function for the nuclei and electrons of the cup is not zero below the table (while being ...
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On the nature of the collapse of the wave function
The collapse of the wave function by measurements is one of the most mysterious properties of quantum mechanics.
At what scale does the wave function collapse? What are the conditions for a ...
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1answer
132 views
Who are “we”, and what counts as a “question” in consistent histories?
If the preferred basis in quantum mechanics and/or choice of consistent histories in consistent histories is arbitrary, and can only be determined by the "questions we ask", just who exactly is this ...
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According to wave function collapse you only have one outcome, so what happens to the other superpositions?
If the superpositions of a wave function are not needed because only one of the superpositions is allowed, what happens to the eigenvalues of the "null" superpositions?
Is the energy transferred ...
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Weak measurements rule out Many Worlds Interpretation?
I came across a paper that claims to prove that the Many Worlds interpretation is invalid by applying weak measurements.
The paper can be found here: ...
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1answer
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Residues in QFT propagator
It is a well known fact that the location of the pole of a propagator (in QFT) can be interpreted as the physical mass.
Is there an interpretation for the residue of the propagator?
Note: I´m ...
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1answer
49 views
Spekkens Toy Model, Internal Comonoids
I have been thinking about Spekkens Toy model in terms of interfaces. The Spekkens paper concerns a physics based on only being able to receive answers to half the number of questions necessary to ...
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1answer
451 views
The measure problem in the anthropic principle
The anthropic principle is based upon Bayesian reasoning applied to the ensemble of universes, or parts thereof, conditioned upon the existence of conscious observers. That still leaves us with the ...
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2answers
152 views
Interpretation of $e|\psi|^2$ as electron density
In solid state physics the electron density is often equated to $e|\psi|^2$. However, the Sakurai says (Chapter 2.4, Interpretation of the Wave Function, p. 101) that adopting such a view leads "to ...
9
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1answer
67 views
Quasiparticles in Bohmian mechanics
My questions are about de Broglie-Bohm "pilot wave" interpretation of quantum mechanics (a.k.a. Bohmian mechanics).
Do quasiparticles have any meaning in Bohmian mechanics, or not? Specifically, is ...
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121 views
A foundational question about entanglement
The recent Nature article
http://www.nature.com/news/data-teleportation-the-quantum-space-race-1.11958
prompts me to ask this question, which is of the same tenor as that asked at the recent Perimeter ...
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Canonical Commutation Relations
Is it logically sound to accept the canonical commutation relation (CCR)
$$[x,p]~=~i\hbar$$
as a postulate of quantum mechanics? Or is it more correct to derive it given some form for $p$ in the ...
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1answer
113 views
Temporal part of Quantum Wavefunction
I was hoping that someone could give me the more fundamental reason that we take as the temporal part of a quantum wavefunction the function $e^{-i\omega t}$ and not $e^{+i\omega t}$? Clearly ...
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3answers
215 views
How do we know particles exist? Aren't they just waves?
In the book "A Briefer History of Time" Stephen Hawking wrote:
The unpredictable, random element comes in only when we try to
interpret the wave in terms of the positions and velocities of
...
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1answer
121 views
Who are some prominent groups or individuals pursuing realist physics? [closed]
I'm interested to know of any well-known physics schools or individuals attempting to advance fundamental physics or reinterpret it from a realist standpoint.
Presumably most physicists by contrast ...
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How to explain Tsirelson's inequality using extended probabilities?
How to explain Tsirelson's inequality using extended probabilities?
Some people have tried explaining the Bell inequalities using extended probabilities.
For instance, a pair of entangled photons ...
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What is the physical interpretation of the density matrix in a double continuous basis $|\alpha\rangle$, $|\beta\rangle$?
(a) Any textbook gives the interpretation of the density matrix in a single continuous basis $|\alpha\rangle$:
The diagonal elements $\rho(\alpha, \alpha) = \langle \alpha |\hat{\rho}| \alpha ...
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Can the Heisenberg interpretation or path integrals apply to open quantum systems?
It has been claimed by some people that Schrödinger's picture is more misleading compared to the Heisenberg principle or path integrals, and that we would be better off abandoning the ...
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Wave/particle duality
Apologies if this has been asked before (I did check and I believe it wasn't). I have a question about the particle/wave duality of photons (or other particles). Depending on what and how we measure ...
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436 views
What criteria distinguishes causality from retrocausality?
The brilliant philosopher David Hume remarked that if two events are always found to be correlated to each other with one event happening prior to the other, we call the earlier event the cause and ...
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6answers
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Will Determinism be ever possible?
What are the main problems that we need to solve to prove Laplace's determinism correct and overcome the Uncertainty principle?
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Many-worlds: Where does the energy come from?
With regard to the theory that each time a wave function collapses the universe splits so that each possible outcome really exists - where does all the energy required to create all the new universes ...
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Are many-worlds and the multiverse really the same thing?
Are many-worlds and the multiverse really the same thing?
Not too long ago, Susskind and Bousso uploaded the article "The Multiverse Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics" with the thesis that the ...
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Is the statistical interpretation of Quantum Mechanics dead?
I'm sure this question is a bit gauche for this site, but I'm just a mathematician trying to piece together some physical intuition.
*Question:*Is the statistical interpretation of Quantum ...
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1answer
349 views
Is a weak measurement the same as an unsharp measurement or POVM?
This is prompted by the strong claims made in Science 332, 1170 (2011) to have observed trajectories of photons, "something all of our textbooks and professors had always told us was impossible". I'm ...
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The quantum state can be interpreted statistically, again
Now there are two papers
The quantum state cannot be interpreted statistically
http://arxiv.org/abs/1111.3328
(It was discussed here the consecuences of this "no-go theorem")
And this one (two of ...
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Does the nonlocality of the preferred basis mean QM is nonlocal?
Take the Mach-Zehnder interferometer as an example. A photon passes through a beam splitter, is reflected off mirrors, and interferes with itself at another half-silvered mirror. No measurements or ...
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Is quasiclassicality in consistent histories the preferred basis problem in disguise?
Is quasiclassicality in consistent histories the preferred basis problem in disguise? Out of the numerous possible consistent realms in consistent histories — with no canonical choice — ...
