dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaCollapse models: analysis of the free particle dynamics
| Authors | A. Bassi |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0410222 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0410222 |
| Journal | J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 38 (2005) 3173 |
| License | http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/ |
Abstract
We study a model of spontaneous wavefunction collapse for a free quantum particle. We analyze in detail the time evolution of the single-Gaussian solution and the double-Gaussian solution, showing how the reduction mechanism induces the localization of the wavefunction in space; we also study the asymptotic behavior of the general solution. With an appropriate choice for the parameter $\lambda$ which sets the strength of the collapse mechanism, we prove that: i) the effects of the reducing terms on the dynamics of microscopic systems are negligible, the physical predictions of the model being very close to those of standard quantum mechanics; ii) at the macroscopic scale, the model reproduces classical mechanics: the wavefunction of the center of mass of a macro-object behaves, with high accuracy, like a point moving in space according to Newton's laws.
{
"annotation_id": "e5aedc92-a660-4b8c-b26c-bed8582bb327",
"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:02:12.579000Z",
"date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:02:12.579000Z",
"file_hash": "c13fbbbe07e21e9d08a6e3dc7f17a988f17d722fd7a94d4fdb645f8f5632adeb",
"private": false,
"record": {
"abstract": "We study a model of spontaneous wavefunction collapse for a free quantum\nparticle. We analyze in detail the time evolution of the single-Gaussian\nsolution and the double-Gaussian solution, showing how the reduction mechanism\ninduces the localization of the wavefunction in space; we also study the\nasymptotic behavior of the general solution. With an appropriate choice for the\nparameter $\\lambda$ which sets the strength of the collapse mechanism, we prove\nthat: i) the effects of the reducing terms on the dynamics of microscopic\nsystems are negligible, the physical predictions of the model being very close\nto those of standard quantum mechanics; ii) at the macroscopic scale, the model\nreproduces classical mechanics: the wavefunction of the center of mass of a\nmacro-object behaves, with high accuracy, like a point moving in space\naccording to Newton\u0027s laws.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0410222",
"authors": [
"A. Bassi"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph",
"math-ph",
"math.MP"
],
"journal_ref": "J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 38 (2005) 3173",
"license": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
"title": "Collapse models: analysis of the free particle dynamics",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0410222"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
"source": {
"execution_id": "00c7aa8f-e025-4c52-bff0-c5f9059f05a6",
"id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
"type": "Model",
"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
"version": "0.1.0"
},
"user_id": 1000002
}