dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaReply to Aharonov and Anandan's "Meaning of the Density Matrix"
| Authors | B. d'Espagnat |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/9804063 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9804063 |
Abstract
Aharonov and Anandan's claim that the notion of ``proper mixture'' is improper is shown to be unjustified. The point is made that if a purely operationalist standpoint is taken the three difficulties these authors describe relatively to the conventional interpretation of density matrices in fact vanish. It is noted that nevertheless it is very difficult for us to do without any form of realism, in particular when the quantum measurement problem is considered, and it is stressed that the proper mixture notion comes in precisely at this level. The more general question of the real bearing of Aharonov and Anandan's ideas on the interpretation of quantum mechanics problem is considered.
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"abstract": "Aharonov and Anandan\u0027s claim that the notion of ``proper mixture\u0027\u0027 is\nimproper is shown to be unjustified. The point is made that if a purely\noperationalist standpoint is taken the three difficulties these authors\ndescribe relatively to the conventional interpretation of density matrices in\nfact vanish. It is noted that nevertheless it is very difficult for us to do\nwithout any form of realism, in particular when the quantum measurement problem\nis considered, and it is stressed that the proper mixture notion comes in\nprecisely at this level. The more general question of the real bearing of\nAharonov and Anandan\u0027s ideas on the interpretation of quantum mechanics problem\nis considered.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/9804063",
"authors": [
"B. d\u0027Espagnat"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
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"title": "Reply to Aharonov and Anandan\u0027s \"Meaning of the Density Matrix\"",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9804063"
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