Wallace, David (2022) Life and Death in the Tails of the Wave Function. [Preprint]

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Abstract

It is often assumed that the only effect of the Ghirardi-Rimini-Weber (`GRW') dynamical collapse mechanism on the `tails' of the wavefunction (that is, the components of superpositions on which the collapse is \emph{not}
centred) is to reduce their weight. In consequence it seems to be generally accepted that the tails behave exactly as do the various branches in the Everett interpretation except
for their much lower weight.

These assumptions are demonstrably inaccurate: the collapse mechanism has substantial and detectable effects within the tails. The relevance of this misconception for the dynamical-collapse theories is debatable, though.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Wallace, David
Additional Information:	Lightly revised version (updated a few references, changed the formatting, replaced a mathematical model with a better one).
Keywords:	Dynamical Collapse, GRW, Tails Problem
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Depositing User:	Professor David Wallace
Date Deposited:	24 Apr 2022 18:10
Last Modified:	24 Apr 2022 18:10
Item ID:	20496
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Date:	April 2022
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/20496

Available Versions of this Item

• Life and Death in the Tails of the Wave Function. (deposited 19 Jul 2014 15:31)
  • Life and Death in the Tails of the Wave Function. (deposited 24 Apr 2022 18:10) [Currently Displayed]

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