Working paper 855 views
New Modal Quantum Mechanics
Timothy Hollowood 
Swansea University Author:
Timothy Hollowood
Abstract
We describe an interpretation of quantum mechanics based on reduced density matrices of sub-systems from which the standard Copenhagen interpretation emerges as an effective description for macro-systems. The interpretation is a modal one, but does not suffer from the range of problems that plague o...
| Published: |
2013
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| Online Access: |
http://inspirehep.net/record/1269763 |
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa28518 |
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| Abstract: |
We describe an interpretation of quantum mechanics based on reduced density matrices of sub-systems from which the standard Copenhagen interpretation emerges as an effective description for macro-systems. The interpretation is a modal one, but does not suffer from the range of problems that plague other modal interpretations. The key feature is that quantum states carry an additional property assignment in the form of one the eigenvectors of the reduced density matrix which evolves evolves according to a stochastic process driven by the unmodified Schrodinger equation, but it is usually hidden from the emergent classical description due to the ergodic nature of its dynamics. However, during a quantum measurement, ergodicity is broken by decoherence and definite outcomes occur with probabilities that agree with the Born |
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| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |