dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaAppearance of Schrodinger Cat States in the Measurement Process
| Authors | G. B. Lesovik, A. V. Lebedev, G. Blatter |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0307044 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0307044 |
Abstract
Although quantum mechanics is a mature theory, fundamental problems discussed during its time of foundation have remained with us to this day. These problems are centered on the problematic relation between the quantum and classical worlds. The most famous element is the measurement problem, i.e., the measurement of a quantum system by a classical apparatus, and the concomitant phenomena of wave packet reduction, the appearance of probability, and the problems related to Schr\"odinger cat states. A fundamental question in this context is whether quantum mechanics can bootstrap itself to the classical world: is quantum mechanics self-consistent, such that the measurement process can be understood within quantum mechanics itself, or does this process require additional elements from the realm outside of traditional quantum mechanics? Here, we point to a problematic aspect in the traditional Schr\"odinger cat argument which can be overcome through its extension with a proper macroscopic preparation device; the deliberate creation of a cat state and its identification then turns into a non-trivial problem requiring the determination of the evolution of a quantum system entangled with a macroscopic reservoir. We describe a new type of wave-function correlator testing for the appearance of Schr\"odinger cat states and discuss its implications for theories deriving the wave function collapse from a unitary evolution.
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"abstract": "Although quantum mechanics is a mature theory, fundamental problems discussed\nduring its time of foundation have remained with us to this day. These problems\nare centered on the problematic relation between the quantum and classical\nworlds. The most famous element is the measurement problem, i.e., the\nmeasurement of a quantum system by a classical apparatus, and the concomitant\nphenomena of wave packet reduction, the appearance of probability, and the\nproblems related to Schr\\\"odinger cat states. A fundamental question in this\ncontext is whether quantum mechanics can bootstrap itself to the classical\nworld: is quantum mechanics self-consistent, such that the measurement process\ncan be understood within quantum mechanics itself, or does this process require\nadditional elements from the realm outside of traditional quantum mechanics?\nHere, we point to a problematic aspect in the traditional Schr\\\"odinger cat\nargument which can be overcome through its extension with a proper macroscopic\npreparation device; the deliberate creation of a cat state and its\nidentification then turns into a non-trivial problem requiring the\ndetermination of the evolution of a quantum system entangled with a macroscopic\nreservoir. We describe a new type of wave-function correlator testing for the\nappearance of Schr\\\"odinger cat states and discuss its implications for\ntheories deriving the wave function collapse from a unitary evolution.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0307044",
"authors": [
"G. B. Lesovik",
"A. V. Lebedev",
"G. Blatter"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"title": "Appearance of Schrodinger Cat States in the Measurement Process",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0307044"
},
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