Introduction

Abstract

Abstract This chapter introduces the problem (that the wave function of standard quantum theory (SQT) cannot correspond to reality in nature) and its resolution (change Schrodinger’s equation). The chapter begins by citing Schrodinger’s argument as to how the collapse postulate of SQT leads to the cited problem. It then presents a resolution embodied in the continuous spontaneous localization (CSL) theory‘s altered Schrodinger equation. The chapter shows how the “Gambler’s Ruin” game, where two gamblers bet on a coin toss until one wins all the money, is a precise and intuitively appealing analogy to the needed collapse behavior for a superposition of two states evolving under random influence to one or another of those states. Following this, the chapter ends by presenting the structure of the book. The first seven chapters show how CSL works, discusses experimentally testable and already tested predictions, and covers interpretive features of CSL. The purpose of the remaining eleven chapters, called “Supplementary,” is summarized as well.