13 research outputs found
The Pondicherry interpretation of quantum mechanics: An overview
An overview of the Pondicherry interpretation of quantum mechanics is
presented. This interpretation proceeds from the recognition that the
fundamental theoretical framework of physics is a probability algorithm, which
serves to describe an objective fuzziness (the literal meaning of Heisenberg's
term "Unschaerfe," usually mistranslated as "uncertainty") by assigning
objective probabilities to the possible outcomes of unperformed measurements.
Although it rejects attempts to construe quantum states as evolving ontological
states, it arrives at an objective description of the quantum world that owes
nothing to observers or the goings-on in physics laboratories. In fact, unless
such attempts are rejected, quantum theory's true ontological implications
cannot be seen. Among these are the radically relational nature of space, the
numerical identity of the corresponding relata, the incomplete spatiotemporal
differentiation of the physical world, and the consequent top-down structure of
reality, which defies attempts to model it from the bottom up, whether on the
basis of an intrinsically differentiated spacetime manifold or out of a
multitude of individual building blocks.Comment: 18 pages, 1 eps figure, v3: with corrections made in proo
Quantum discreteness is an illusion
I review arguments demonstrating how the concept of "particle" numbers arises
in the form of equidistant energy eigenvalues of coupled harmonic oscillators
representing free fields. Their quantum numbers (numbers of nodes of the wave
functions) can be interpreted as occupation numbers for objects with a formal
mass (defined by the field equation) and spatial wave number ("momentum")
characterizing classical field modes. A superposition of different oscillator
eigenstates, all consisting of n modes having one node, while all others have
none, defines a nondegenerate "n-particle wave function". Other discrete
properties and phenomena (such as particle positions and "events") can be
understood by means of the fast but smooth process of decoherence: the
irreversible dislocalization of superpositions. Any wave-particle dualism thus
becomes obsolete. The observation of individual outcomes of this decoherence
process in measurements requires either a subsequent collapse of the wave
function or a "branching observer" in accordance with the Schr\"odinger
equation - both possibilities applying clearly after the decoherence process.
Any probability interpretation of the wave function in terms of local elements
of reality, such as particles or other classical concepts, would open a
Pandora's box of paradoxes, as is illustrated by various misnomers that have
become popular in quantum theory.Comment: 18 pages. v2: Some text and two references added. v3: Minor changes,
one reference added. v4: 21 pages. Submitted to AmJP (not accepted). v5:
Minor changes (mainly formulations). v6: Accepted by Found.Phys. Final
version is available at http://www.springerlink.co