PhilSci Archive

Undecidability and the problem of outcomes in quantum measurements

Gambini, Rodolfo and Garcia Pintos, Luis Pedro and Pullin, Jorge (2009) Undecidability and the problem of outcomes in quantum measurements. [Preprint]

[img]
Preview
PDF
fp3.pdf

Download (236kB)

Abstract

We argue that it is fundamentally impossible to recover information about quantum superpositions when a quantum system has interacted with a sufficiently large number of degrees of freedom of the environment. This is due to the fact that gravity imposes fundamental limitations on how accurate measurements can be. This leads to the notion of undecidability: there is no way to tell, due to fundamental limitations, if a quantum system evolved unitarily or suffered wavefunction collapse. This in turn provides a solution to the problem of outcomes in quantum measurement by providing a sharp criterion for defining when an event has taken place. We analyze in detail in examples two situations in which in principle one could recover information about quantum coherence: a) “revivals” of coherence in the interaction of a system with the measurement apparatus and the environment and b) the measurement of global observables of the system plus apparatus plus environment. We show in the examples that the fundamental limitations due to gravity and quantum mechanics in measurement prevent both revivals from occurring and the measurement of global observables. It can therefore be argued that the emerging picture provides a complete resolution to the measurement problem in quantum mechanics.


Export/Citation: EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL
Social Networking:
Share |

Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Gambini, Rodolfo
Garcia Pintos, Luis Pedro
Pullin, Jorge
Additional Information: To appear in Foundations of Physics
Keywords: measurement problem; interpretations of quantum mechanics
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Depositing User: Jorge Pullin
Date Deposited: 13 Nov 2009
Last Modified: 07 Oct 2010 15:18
Item ID: 4982
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Date: May 2009
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/4982

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item