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Contextual Wavefunction collapse: an integrated theory of quantum measurement

Drossel, Barbara ; Ellis, George (2019)
Contextual Wavefunction collapse: an integrated theory of quantum measurement.
In: New Journal of Physics, 2018, 20 (11)
Article, Secondary publication, Publisher's Version

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Item Type: Article
Type of entry: Secondary publication
Title: Contextual Wavefunction collapse: an integrated theory of quantum measurement
Language: English
Date: 16 January 2019
Place of Publication: Darmstadt
Year of primary publication: 2018
Journal or Publication Title: New Journal of Physics
Volume of the journal: 20
Issue Number: 11
Corresponding Links:
Origin: Secondary publication via sponsored Golden Open Access
Abstract:

This paper is an in depth implementation of the proposal (Ellis 2012 Ann. Phys. NY327 1890–932) that the quantum measurement issue can be resolved by carefully looking at top-down contextual effects within realistic measurement contexts. The specific setup of the measurement apparatus determines the possible events that can take place. The interaction of local heat baths with a quantum system plays a key role in the process. In contrast to the usual attempts to explain quantum measurement by decoherence, we argue that the heat bath follows unitary time evolution only over limited length and time scales (Drossel 2017 His. Phil. Sci. B 58 12–21) and thus leads to localization and stochastic dynamics of quantum particles that interact with it.Weshow furthermore that a theory that describes all the steps from the initial arrival of the quantum particle to the final pointer deflection must use elements from classical physics. This proposal also provides a contextual answer to the puzzle of the origin of the arrow of time when quantum measurements take place: it derives from the cosmological direction of time. Overall, our proposal is for contextual wavefunction collapse.

Status: Publisher's Version
URN: urn:nbn:de:tuda-tuprints-83786
Classification DDC: 500 Science and mathematics > 530 Physics
Divisions: 05 Department of Physics > Institute for condensed matter physics (2021 merged in Institute for Condensed Matter Physics)
Date Deposited: 16 Jan 2019 15:27
Last Modified: 20 Oct 2023 07:58
URI: https://tuprints.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/id/eprint/8378
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