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Macroscopic Quantum Superpositions Cannot Be Measured, Even in Principle

Knight, Andrew (2020) Macroscopic Quantum Superpositions Cannot Be Measured, Even in Principle. [Preprint]

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Abstract

I show in this paper why the universality of quantum mechanics at all scales, which implies the possibility of Schrodinger's Cat and Wigner's Friend thought experiments, cannot be experimentally confirmed, and why macroscopic superpositions in general cannot be observed or measured, even in principle. Through the relativity of quantum superposition and the transitivity of correlation, it is shown that from the perspective of an object that is in quantum superposition relative to a macroscopic measuring device and observer, the observer is already sufficiently well correlated to the measuring device that once the object correlates to the measuring device, there is no time period in which the observer can perform an appropriate interference experiment to show that the measuring device is in a superposition.


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Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Knight, Andrewaknight@nyu.edu0000-0003-0274-1681
Keywords: Macroscopic quantum superpositions; Schrodinger's Cat; Wigner's Friend; Relativity of quantum superpositions; Quantum entanglement
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Depositing User: Dr. Andrew Knight
Date Deposited: 10 Oct 2020 17:34
Last Modified: 10 Oct 2020 17:34
Item ID: 18205
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Date: 25 August 2020
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/18205

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