On the Nature of Quantum Phenomena (original) (raw)
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Universe Superposition, Relational Quantum Mechanics, and The Reality of the No-Collapse Universe
2008
A perspective on Everett's relative state formulation is proposed leading to a relational quantum mechanics. There are inevitably a large number of different versions of the universe in which a specific observer could exist, and in the universe of the unitary wave function they are all existing and coincident. If these different versions of the universe are superposed the result is a universe in which the superposition of all of the identical copies sums to a single observer. The effective universe in the functional frame of reference of this observer would be highly indeterminate but determinate where observed by this observer. This would naturally relativise the universe of the conventional view since each observer would inhabit an effective universe in which different aspects were determinate. Although the identity of the observer as a physical body does not readily fit this concept, it appears to apply inevitably to the functional identity of an observer as depicted by Everett. In this relational quantum mechanics a collapse dynamics applies only to the functional frame of reference of the observer and raises no incompatibility with the linear dynamics.
A New Ontological View of the Quantum Measurement Problem
2005
A new ontological view of the quantum measurement processes is given, which has bearings on many broader issues in the foundations of quantum mechanics as well. In this scenario a quantum measurement is a non-equilibrium phase transition in a "resonant cavity" formed by the entire physical universe including all of its material and energy content. A quantum measurement involves the energy and matter exchange among not only the system being measured and the measuring apparatus but also the global environment of the universe resonant cavity, which together constrain the nature of the phase transition. Strict realism, including strict energy and angular momentum conservation, is recovered in this view of the quantum measurement process beyond the limit set by the uncertainty relations, which are themselves derived from the exact commutation relations for quantum conjugate variables. Both the amplitude and the phase of the quantum mechanical wavefunction acquire substantial meanings in the new ontology, and the probabilistic element is removed from the foundations of quantum mechanics, its apparent presence in the quantum measurement being solely a result of the sensitive dependence on initial/boundary conditions of the phase transitions of a many degree-offreedom system which is effectively the whole universe. Vacuum fluctuations are viewed as the "left over" fluctuations after forming the whole numbers of nonequilibrium resonant modes in the universe cavity. This new view on the quantum processes helps to clarify many puzzles in the foundations of quantum mechanics, such as wave-particle duality, Schrodinger's Cat paradox, first and higher order coherence of photons and atoms, virtual particles, the existence of commutation relations and quantized behavior, etc. It naturally explains also the appearance of a hierarchy of structures in the physical universe as the result of successive spontaneous phase transitions under natural boundary conditions, whose occurrence does not need the presence of conscious observers to "collapse the wavefunction". Implications of the new view on the currently successful approaches in quantum field theories, such as the renormalization procedure and Feynman diagrammatic approach, are also discussed.
Quantum Mechanics in a New Light
Foundations of Science, 2016
Although the present paper looks upon the formal apparatus of quantum mechanics as a calculus of correlations, it goes beyond a purely operationalist interpretation. Having established the consistency of the correlations with the existence of their correlata (measurement outcomes), and having justified the distinction between a domain in which outcome-indicating events occur and a domain whose properties only exist if their existence is indicated by such events, it explains the difference between the two domains as essentially the difference between the manifested world and its manifestation. A single, intrinsically undifferentiated Being manifests the macroworld by entering into reflexive spatial relations. This atemporal process implies a new kind of causality and sheds new light on the mysterious nonlocality of quantum mechanics. Unlike other realist interpretations, which proceed from an evolving-states formulation, the present interpretation proceeds from Feynman's formulation of the theory, and it introduces a new interpretive principle, replacing the collapse postulate and the eigenvalueeigenstate link of evolving-states formulations. Applied to alternatives involving distinctions between regions of space, this principle implies that the spatiotemporal differentiation of the physical world is incomplete. Applied to alternatives involving distinctions between things, it warrants the claim that, intrinsically, all fundamental particles are identical in the strong sense of numerical identical. They are the aforementioned intrinsically undifferentiated Being, which manifests the macroworld by entering into reflexive spatial relations.
A Continuous Transition Between Quantum and Classical Mechanics. II
Foundations of Physics, 2002
In spite of its popularity, it has not been possible to vindicate the conventional wisdom that classical mechanics is a limiting case of quantum mechanics. The purpose of the present paper is to offer an alternative formulation of classical mechanics which provides a continuous transition to quantum mechanics via environment-induced decoherence.
Physics Today, 1989
The New Quantum Universe describes quantum mechanics and how it underpins everything we see about us-from atoms to stars, from nuclei to lasers. Quantum paradoxes and the eventful life of Schroedinger's Cat are explained, along with the Many Universe explanation of quantum measurement. The book looks ahead to the nanotechnology revolution, describing quantum cryptography, quantum computing and quantum teleportation.
The Relativity Principle at the Foundation of Quantum Mechanics
arXiv (Cornell University), 2021
Quantum information theorists have created axiomatic reconstructions of quantum mechanics (QM) that are very successful at identifying precisely what distinguishes quantum probability theory from classical and more general probability theories in terms of information-theoretic principles. Herein, we show how one such principle, Information Invariance & Continuity, at the foundation of those axiomatic reconstructions maps to "no preferred reference frame" (NPRF, aka "the relativity principle") as it pertains to the invariant measurement of Planck's constant h for Stern-Gerlach (SG) spin measurements. This is in exact analogy to the relativity principle as it pertains to the invariant measurement of the speed of light c at the foundation of special relativity (SR). Essentially, quantum information theorists have extended Einstein's use of NPRF from the boost invariance of measurements of c to include the SO(3) invariance of measurements of h between different reference frames of mutually complementary spin measurements via the principle of Information Invariance & Continuity. Consequently, the "mystery" of the Bell states that is responsible for the Tsirelson bound and the exclusion of the no-signalling, "superquantum" Popescu-Rohrlich joint probabilities is understood to result from conservation per Information Invariance & Continuity between different reference frames of mutually complementary qubit measurements, and this maps to conservation per NPRF in spacetime. If one falsely conflates the relativity principle with the classical theory of SR, then it may seem impossible that the relativity principle resides at the foundation of non-relativisitic QM. In fact, there is nothing inherently classical or quantum about NPRF. Thus, the axiomatic reconstructions of QM have succeeded in producing a principle account of QM that reveals as much about Nature as the postulates of SR.
On Reconciling Quantum Theory and Relativity
2014
One of the most important open questions in physics is the possibility of reconciliation, and perhaps unification, between quantum theory and relativity theory. Here I show that a relativity theory without the Lorentz Invariance Principle, termed Complete Relativity, reconciles with quantum mechanics at significant meeting points: It explains the quantum criticality at the Golden Ratio. More importantly, it confirms with Planck's energy. These results are quite astounding, given the fact that Complete Relativity, like Special Relativity, is a deterministic model of the dynamics of moving bodies. An application of the theory to cosmology, discussed in a recent paper, revealed that it yields definitions of dark matter and dark energy, and predicts the contents of the universe with impressive accuracy. Taken together, these results raise the exciting possibility that physics at the quantum scale, and at the cosmological scale, are the two faces of one coin: The coin of relativity.
A New Premise for Quantum Physics, Consciousness and the Fabric of Reality
ResearchGate, 2020
We submit a generalized interpretation of quantum physics on the basis of resolution of quantum indeterminacy, emerging from an integral and simultaneous change of physical relationships at the Planck scale. This model postulates "space-time instants of now" framed by us as "blinks of change" in the physical world. These "instants of now" can only be conceived as permanent conscious moments if they attain sufficient novelty and are regarded by us to be the basic building blocks of scale-invariant consciousness and the fabric of reality. We postulate that a transactional wave interaction of local and nonlocal information occurs within a discrete timeframe between each prior and subsequent "instant of now". The "Standard Reference Frame", created according to our premise, generates a general aspect of quantum entanglement in the universe, thereby providing nonlocal relations that affect all physical change. The proposed quantum physical model not only provides a basis for resolution of quantum uncertainty by causal self-observation of the universe, it also explains the existence of universal consciousness and puts the very nature of time and cause-effect relationships in a new perspective. The concept is conceived as a basic ontology for our cosmos, from which many of the current physical theories for mind/matter reality can be directly derived. It thereby offers insight into the well-known "implicate and explicate order" interpretation of David Bohm as well as the concept of "actual occasions" of Alfred North Whitehead. Our concept bears some similarities with Cramer's Transactional Interpretation of Quantum Physics, but partially differs from a recent hypothesis postulated by Lee Smolin on the nature of Qualia. Importantly, our concept requires a recurrent wave modality that returns to itself that generates an intrinsic aspect of entanglement. This ensures a self-referential information flux that can be fully accommodated by toroidal geometry and intrinsically integrates the aspect of universal consciousness. The toroidal geometry that is implied, allows the access to a 4 th spatial dimension that may reflect a sub-Planckian domain of mathematical relations and geometric forms (phase space), functioning as an implicate order. We believe that the present novel interpretation of quantum physics invites relevant views on individual consciousness of living organisms and their interconnection via cosmic musical master-code.