15 research outputs found
Spatial Degrees of Freedom in Everett Quantum Mechanics
Stapp claims that, when spatial degrees of freedom are taken into account,
Everett quantum mechanics is ambiguous due to a "core basis problem." To
examine an aspect of this claim I generalize the ideal measurement model to
include translational degrees of freedom for both the measured system and the
measuring apparatus. Analysis of this generalized model using the Everett
interpretation in the Heisenberg picture shows that it makes unambiguous
predictions for the possible results of measurements and their respective
probabilities. The presence of translational degrees of freedom for the
measuring apparatus affects the probabilities of measurement outcomes in the
same way that a mixed state for the measured system would. Examination of a
measurement scenario involving several observers illustrates the consistency of
the model with perceived spatial localization of the measuring apparatus.Comment: 34 pp., no figs. Introduction, discussion revised. Material
tangential to main point remove
A model-theoretic interpretation of environmentally-induced superselection
Environmentally-induced superselection or "einselection" has been proposed as
an observer-independent mechanism by which apparently classical systems
"emerge" from physical interactions between degrees of freedom described
completely quantum-mechanically. It is shown that einselection can only
generate classical systems if the "environment" is assumed \textit{a priori} to
be classical; einselection therefore does not provide an observer-independent
mechanism by which classicality can emerge from quantum dynamics. Einselection
is then reformulated in terms of positive operator-valued measures (POVMs)
acting on a global quantum state. It is shown that this re-formulation enables
a natural interpretation of apparently-classical systems as virtual machines
that requires no assumptions beyond those of classical computer science.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure; minor correction
Observers and Locality in Everett Quantum Field Theory
A model for measurement in collapse-free nonrelativistic fermionic quantum
field theory is presented. In addition to local propagation and
effectively-local interactions, the model incorporates explicit representations
of localized observers, thus extending an earlier model of entanglement
generation in Everett quantum field theory [M. A. Rubin, Found. Phys. 32,
1495-1523 (2002)]. Transformations of the field operators from the Heisenberg
picture to the Deutsch-Hayden picture, involving fictitious auxiliary fields,
establish the locality of the model. The model is applied to manifestly-local
calculations of the results of measurements, using a type of sudden
approximation and in the limit of massive systems in narrow-wavepacket states.
Detection of the presence of a spin-1/2 system in a given spin state by a
freely-moving two-state observer illustrates the features of the model and the
nonperturbative computational methodology. With the help of perturbation theory
the model is applied to a calculation of the quintessential "nonlocal" quantum
phenomenon, spin correlations in the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-Bohm experiment.Comment: Some changes to introduction and discussion sections, typos
corrected, conclusions unchanged. To appear in Foundations of Physic