Interpretation Of Quantum Mechanics Research Articles

The New Partitional Approach to (Literally) Interpreting Quantum Mechanics

The New Partitional Approach to (Literally) Interpreting Quantum Mechanics

On the Verification of the Multiverse

We outline a proposal for an experimental test of Everett’s many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics that could potentially verify the existence of a multiverse. This proposal is based on a quantum field theory formulation of many-worlds through the path integral formalism and a careful choice of the vacuum state.

Dynamics of Wave function Decay: The Quantum Entanglement and the Measure Process

By employing the stochastic extension of the Madelung quantum-hydrodynamic description within a discrete methodology, we establish a solution using the path integral approach to explore the progression of quantum states' superposition. This investigation aims to understand the eventual establishment of a stable end-state configuration amid the backdrop of gravitational background fluctuations. The model identifies the circumstances that lead to a limited range of interaction for the quantum potential, allowing for the emergence of sizeable, classically described macroscopic phenomena. The theory unveils the lowest achievable level of uncertainty in an open quantum system and investigate its congruence with the localized behaviors of macroscopic classical systems. The study examines agreements and differences with decoherence theory and the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, and evaluates the impact of wave function decay on the measurement process. The work also shows that the model is able to explain the deviation of the deuterium state in nuclear physics from the quantum mechanics

Many Worlds and the Vacuum Energy Problem

We suggest that it might be possible to resolve the vacuum energy problem by assuming the reality of a many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. The suggested resolution is that the enormous theoretical prediction for the vacuum energy density is actually the value distributed across all the parallel universes in a superposition. It is assumed that branching of all the universes into a larger superposition is a physical process which is extremely rare, but which has occurred sufficiently often since the Big Bang that the discrepancy for the experimentally measured value of the energy density can be explained.

Structures, Objects, and Reality. Part 2

This paper continues the analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of ontic structural realism, which begun in the first part of the paper. Non-eliminative versions of this approach are considered, which try to find a compromise between the ontology of structures and the ontology of objects. It is shown that the semirealism of A. Chakravartti and the constructive structural realism of T. Cao have a number of limitations caused by the authors’ desire to strictly distinguish between the nature of the existence of objects and structures. Then the version of the relationship between structures and entities is presented. Firstly, two concepts are divided according to their content: “object” and “entity”. Second, to solve the problem of causality, I suggest that the nature of entities and structures lie in their ability to act. It is this ability that I propose to use instead of the popular concepts of “causal powers”, “causal properties” or “dispositions”. Third, instead of a rigid alternative to ontological primitives – either essence, or causal relations, or structures – the concept of ontological pluralism and inherited existence is proposed. There each entity is represented as a derivative of another structure and, in turn, creates other entities and structures. Thus, both structures and entities at each level of the complexity hierarchy partially inherit the ability to act and a certain degree of existence from the structures and entities of the previous levels. Finally, I am trying to clarify the modal aspects of the ontic structural realism. Following the popular interpretations of quantum theory, the ability to act, and hence the existence of structures and entities, are considered separately in two worlds – potential and actual ones. The potential world is associated with a set of possible objects and structures of quantum theory, and the actual world is associated with a set of real (observable) objects and structures of classical physical theories. The transition from the potential to the actual world is proposed to be considered as a primitive metaphysical event. The proposed concept partially overcomes the objections to ontic structural realism, thereby strengthening its position in the discussion about the reality of quantum objects.

Contemporary Cognitive Psychology: What Theories Do

This paper continues the analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of ontic structural realism, which begun in the first part of the paper. Non-eliminative versions of this approach are considered, which try to find a compromise between the ontology of structures and the ontology of objects. It is shown that the semirealism of A. Chakravartti and the constructive structural realism of T. Cao have a number of limitations caused by the authors’ desire to strictly distinguish between the nature of the existence of objects and structures. Then the version of the relationship between structures and entities is presented. Firstly, two concepts are divided according to their content: “object” and “entity”. Second, to solve the problem of causality, I suggest that the nature of entities and structures lie in their ability to act. It is this ability that I propose to use instead of the popular concepts of “causal powers”, “causal properties” or “dispositions”. Third, instead of a rigid alternative to ontological primitives – either essence, or causal relations, or structures – the concept of ontological pluralism and inherited existence is proposed. There each entity is represented as a derivative of another structure and, in turn, creates other entities and structures. Thus, both structures and entities at each level of the complexity hierarchy partially inherit the ability to act and a certain degree of existence from the structures and entities of the previous levels. Finally, I am trying to clarify the modal aspects of the ontic structural realism. Following the popular interpretations of quantum theory, the ability to act, and hence the existence of structures and entities, are considered separately in two worlds – potential and actual ones. The potential world is associated with a set of possible objects and structures of quantum theory, and the actual world is associated with a set of real (observable) objects and structures of classical physical theories. The transition from the potential to the actual world is proposed to be considered as a primitive metaphysical event. The proposed concept partially overcomes the objections to ontic structural realism, thereby strengthening its position in the discussion about the reality of quantum objects.

Common sense and quantum mechanics

It is shown how changing only one word in the usual interpretation of quantum mechanics makes it possible to turn its puzzles and miracles into obvious trivialities

New type of motion to visualize the Copenhagen interpretation

The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics contains a fundamental refuse to visualize quantum processes, so as not to conflict with common sense. The lack of visualization creates a problem in understanding quantum mechanics. We are exploring a new type of motion, which has not been previously considered either in physics or in mathematics. This type of motion makes it possible to correctly describe and visualize the bizarre quantum processes, including quantum jumps, nonlocality, quantum entanglement, wave-particle duality, and so on. We also made some simple figures of these quantum processes using a new type of movement. Visualization of quantum processes will help to better understand quantum mechanics not only for researchers and students but also for lay readers interested in quantum physics.

Is the Statistical Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics ψ-Ontic or ψ-Epistemic?

The ontological models framework distinguishes ψ-ontic from ψ-epistemic wave-functions. It is, in general, quite straightforward to categorize the wave-function of a certain quantum theory. Nevertheless, there has been a debate about the ontological status of the wave-function in the statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics: is it ψ-epistemic and incomplete or ψ-ontic and complete? I will argue that the wave-function in this interpretation is best regarded as ψ-ontic and incomplete.

Does science need intersubjectivity? The problem of confirmation in orthodox interpretations of quantum mechanics

Any successful interpretation of quantum mechanics must explain how our empirical evidence allows us to come to know about quantum mechanics. In this article, we argue that this vital criterion is not met by the class of ‘orthodox interpretations,’ which includes QBism, neo-Copenhagen interpretations, and some versions of relational quantum mechanics. We demonstrate that intersubjectivity fails in radical ways in these approaches, and we explain why intersubjectivity matters for empirical confirmation. We take a detailed look at the way in which belief-updating might work in the kind of universe postulated by an orthodox interpretation, and argue that observers in such a universe are unable to escape their own perspective in order to learn about the structure of the set of perspectives that is supposed to make up reality according to these interpretations. We also argue that in some versions of these interpretations it is not even possible to use one’s own relative frequencies for empirical confirmation. Ultimately we conclude that it cannot be rational to believe these sorts of interpretations unless they are supplemented with some observer-independent structure which underwrites intersubjective agreement in at least certain sorts of cases.

Approximation of Wave Packets on the Real Line

In this paper we compare three different orthogonal systems in textrm{L}_2({mathbb {R}}) which can be used in the construction of a spectral method for solving the semi-classically scaled time dependent Schrödinger equation on the real line, specifically, stretched Fourier functions, Hermite functions and Malmquist–Takenaka functions. All three have banded skew-Hermitian differentiation matrices, which greatly simplifies their implementation in a spectral method, while ensuring that the numerical solution is unitary—this is essential in order to respect the Born interpretation in quantum mechanics and, as a byproduct, ensures numerical stability with respect to the textrm{L}_2({mathbb {R}}) norm. We derive asymptotic approximations of the coefficients for a wave packet in each of these bases, which are extremely accurate in the high frequency regime. We show that the Malmquist–Takenaka basis is superior, in a practical sense, to the more commonly used Hermite functions and stretched Fourier expansions for approximating wave packets.

MACROBITS, a teaching tool for quantum cryptography

One amazing characteristic of quantum algorithms is how they can deliver results with 100% certainty despite their structure being based on the probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics. This type of algorithm requires a different way of thinking and sets a challenge for science educators. A routine to emulate quantum cryptography protocols for high school students is proposed in this work. The educational procedure uses a tool we have developed and called MACROBIT as a mean to mimic algorithms of quantum key distribution. The MACROBITS are useful to illustrate quantum mechanics concepts such as superposition, change of basis and quantum measurement.

A Modal Condition for the Beginning of the Universe

This paper considers two problems—one in philosophy of religion and another in philosophy of physics—and shows that the two problems have one solution. Some Christian philosophers have endorsed the views that (i) there was a first finitely long period of time, (ii) God is in time, and yet (iii) God did not have a beginning. If there was a first finitely long period of time and God is in time then there was a first finitely long period of time in God’s life. But if God’s life includes a first finitely long period of time, then, on one initially intuitive conception of beginning to exist, God began to exist. Thus, at first glance, (i)–(iii) are not mutually compatible. Meanwhile, on a variety of proposals for quantum gravity theories or interpretations of quantum theory, space-time is not fundamental to physical reality and instead can (somehow) be explained in terms of yet more fundamental physical substructures. As I show, there is a strong intuition that if space-time is not fundamental to physical reality, then, even if there were a first finitely long period in the life of physical reality, physical reality would be beginningless. Thus, both theistic philosophers and philosophers of physics have developed theories on which some beginningless entities have a first finitely long temporal period in their lives and so both groups should be interested in developing criteria that distinguish such entities from entities with a beginning. In this paper, I offer one necessary (but not sufficient) condition, namely, that entities that begin to exist are absent from the closest possible worlds without time. The view that I defend has one significant upshot: no sound argument can use the mere fact (if it is a fact) that past time is finite to reach the conclusion that the totality of physical reality had a beginning.

Electron Diffraction Experiment Disturbed by Magnetic Field

The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics believes that as long as it is monitored, the diffraction fringes of electrons will disappear. There have been no scientific reports on the "electron diffraction experiment monitored by a magnetic field" for a long time (there are only popular science reports in this area). Now, the electron diffraction experiment disturbed by the permanent magnet has been completed. As a result, the interference of the magnetic field can deform and drift the electron diffraction fringes, but will not cause the diffraction fringes to disappear. It clearly shows that the interference of the measurement cannot make the wave-particle duality particles collapse into complete particles. This is an experimental counterexample in quantum mechanics (also a dark cloud over quantum mechanics). Both "the existence of the superposition of quantum states" and "the superposition of quantum states cannot withstand any observation and surveillance" are doubtful.

SCIENCE, RELIGION, AND CULTURE

SCIENCE, RELIGION, AND CULTURE

Verso una pedagogia radicalmente relazionale

Post-human bodies experience and act upon (physical and/or psychological) identity modifications. These ‘novelties’ can be problematic provided we assign ontological priority to relata rather than relations. There are many different relational ontologies: Nagarjuna’s Buddhist thought, Rovelli’s relational interpretation of quantum mechanics, Ladyman’s ontic structural realism, Bateson’s theory, Barad’s new materialism, etc. What does it mean, from a pedagogical perspective, to adopt a radically relational perspective? To reason in terms of intra-actions, and no longer in terms of interactions? What are the ethical implications of the practice of Haraway’s ‘tentacular thinking’? These questions suggest the possibility of an openness to otherness, of resistance to indifference, of overcoming the solitudes peculiar to the individualistic paradigm. In conclusion, the question arises as to whether a radically relational pedagogical perspective can represent an alternative to Fisher’s hauntology: that ‘nostalgia for lost futures’ that characterises our time, and of which the world of education does not yet seem to have really become aware.

The Bell inequalities: Commentary on the Nobel Prize in Physics 2022

<p indent="0mm">The Nobel Prize in Physics 2022 was awarded to three experiment physicists: Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger, for their contributions to “experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science”. In this paper, the history, basics, and applications related with the Bell inequalities are reviewed. The discussion of fundamental issues on quantum mechanics dated back to the year 1927 when the fifth Solvay conference was held, highlighting intense arguments between Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr. At the time, Einstein expressed, publicly for the first time, his critical attitude towards quantum mechanics. While the arguments did not reach a decisive conclusion, Bohr’s probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics, the Copenhagen interpretation, had since been well circulated among the community. Einstein’s arguments with Bohr lasted many years after the conference. The arguably most famous one was the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox, proposed in a 1935 paper written by the three authors. They stated, by flawless reasoning, that quantum mechanics is ‘incomplete’. Bohr replied immediately. So did Erwin Schrödinger, who, in particular, coined the term ‘entangled’ for the first time to describe the bizarre quantum mechanical property. Nevertheless, the EPR paper received few citations at its publication, until 1990’s when quantum information science started blossoming. From today’s perspective, the paper resembles the ‘sleeping beauty’ who slumbered for decades before fully awakening. It has been widely accepted that it was John S. Bell who eventually resolved the EPR paradox. But many important figures before him should not go unnoticed, including John A. Wheeler, Chien-Shiung Wu, David Bohm, to name a few. In 1964, Bell wrote down a mathematical inequality which satisfies local hidden variable theory but which can be violated in quantum mechanics. The significance is that Bell’s inequality brings the rather philosophic debates on the EPR paradox down to be experimentally testable. Hence, an experiment is here appealing, as is the case in all fields of physics. To the end, John F. Clauser, alongside Stuart J. Freedman, conducted an experiment in 1972 to test a Bell inequality, the Bell-Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality, proposed by him and his collaborators in 1969. The results, however, leaves loopholes open. One of the loopholes was closed in a later experiment led by Alain Aspect in 1982. The Bell-CHSH inequality was later tested under a much stricter condition by Anton Zeilinger’s team. Two most important loopholes were both closed by three teams in 2015 independently. Zeilinger’s team was among them. Almost all experiments to date have confirmed quantum mechanical predictions. Zeilinger’s team also performed the first teleportation of unknown quantum states, the first entanglement swapping, along with other contributions pioneering the quantum information science. In retrospect, the foundational study of quantum theory has been developed over a century. It once drew much of quantum physics founders’ attention, went virtually unnoticed while other physical fields advanced, had for quite a while been considered to have very weak relationship with major physics, and finally revived in recent decades leading to rapid progress in quantum information science and quantum technology. We believe that the Nobel Prize in Physics this year is not only an award and recognition to past achievements, but also heralds a new era of science in future.

The Relational Dissolution of the Quantum Measurement Problems

The Quantum Measurement Problem is arguably one of the most debated issues in the philosophy of Quantum Mechanics, since it represents not only a technical difficulty for the standard formulation of the theory, but also a source of interpretational disputes concerning the meaning of the quantum postulates. Another conundrum intimately connected with the QMP is the Wigner friend paradox, a thought experiment underlining the incoherence between the two dynamical laws governing the behavior of quantum systems, i.e the Schrödinger equation and the projection rule. Thus, every alternative interpretation aiming to be considered a sound formulation of QM must provide an explanation to these puzzles associated with quantum measurements. It is the aim of the present essay to discuss them in the context of Relational Quantum Mechanics. In fact, it is shown here how this interpretative framework dissolves the QMP. More precisely, two variants of this issue are considered: on the one hand, I focus on the “the problem of outcomes” contained in Maudlin (1995)—in which the projection postulate is not mentioned—on the other hand, I take into account Rovelli’s reformulation of this problem proposed in Rovelli (2022), where the tension between the Schrödinger equation and the stochastic nature of the collapse rule is explicitly considered. Moreover, the relational explanation to the Wigner’s friend paradox is reviewed, taking also into account some interesting objections contra Rovelli’s theory contained in Laudisa (2019). I contend that answering these critical remarks leads to an improvement of our understanding of RQM. Finally, a possible objection against the relational solution to the QMP is presented and addressed.

Quantum mechanical interpretation of the minimum viscosity of metallic liquids.

Possible fundamental quantum bounds for viscosity and many other physical properties have drawn serious considerations recently from diverse communities encompassing those studying quantum gravity, high-energy physics, condensed matter physics, strongly correlated electron systems, and "strange metals," to name a few. However, little attention has been paid by materials scientists and the fluid dynamics community, perhaps because of the general belief that quantum mechanics is of little consequence for classical fluid dynamics. Here, considering the extrapolated high-temperature viscosity of 32 metallic alloy liquids as representative of minimum viscosity, experimental results are presented and evaluated in terms of a number of quantum- and statistical-mechanics-based theories. The surprising result is that the experimental data are within one order of magnitude of estimates from those theories. That quantum mechanics could be of importance at such high temperatures in conventional classical fluids is quite interesting. Another surprise is that the minimum viscosities of metallic alloy liquids are not too different from an archetypal quantum liquid, such as He.

Ultra-diluted gas transmittance revisited

The paper analyzes a model of optical transmittance of ultra-diluted gas, considering gas particles’ non-locality and the quantum effect of their wave function spreading derived from solving the Schrödinger equation for a free particle. The analysis does not depend on a particular form of the wave function, but it assumes the reality of wave function. Among others, we show conserved mass gas clouds may become significantly more transparent than predicted by classic transmittance laws. This unexpected phenomenon is possible because mass conservation is governed by the sum of probabilities, while the Markov chain’s product of probabilities controls the transmittance. Furthermore, we analytically derive the upper limit the closed system transmittance may grow and demonstrate a boundless, open gas cloud transmittance may grow up to 100%. Finally, we show the impact on interpretations of quantum mechanics. The model is naturally applicable in deep space conditions, where the environment is sparse. Furthermore, the model responds to dark matter requirements.