Questions tagged [quantum-interpretations]

This tag is for questions relating to what, if anything, the quantum mechanical formalism and experimental results say about the way the world works.

Quantum mechanics raises a lot of questions about the world. This tag is for questions relating to various proposed explanations, while allowing for questions that do not fit in with the standard interpretations.

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How can you be a realist and not posit an ontological model?

I have a specific technical question about how to formalize models for quantum interpretations. My question arises from the talk Why I am not a psi-ontologist, by Rob Spekkens at the Perimter Institute, in which he explains in detail the differences…
Emilio Pisanty
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Provability of the provability or unprovability of QM interpretations

It has been explained to me that it is impossible to prove or disprove a quantum interpretation because all quantum interpretations make the same predictions. Is this accurate? Is there a seminal work proving this assertion? Are all possible…
ta3
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What is the meaning of Wheeler's delayed choice experiment?

Wheeler's delayed choice experiment is a variant of the classic double slit experiment for photons in which the detecting screen may or may not be removed after the photons had passed through the slits. If removed, there are lenses behind the screen…
Nick
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Is the quantum analog of a probability distribution the wave function or the density matrix?

Classically, probability distributions are nonnegative real measures over the space of all possible outcomes which add up to 1. What they mean is open to debate between Bayesians, frequentists and ensemble interpretations. A degenerate distribution…
Hamed
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Retrocausal interpretations of quantum mechanics

Can retrocausality resolve the paradoxes of quantum mechanics? The Copenhagen interpretation presumes something has no property until it is measured, but retrocausal interpretations explain that away by claiming that thing has a definite property…
Vecchia
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Wigner's friend and intersubjectivity in quantum mechanics

Suppose there's a radioactive material and a 1/2 quantum probability of detecting it by a Geiger counter. This puts the system in a superposition. Also suppose you are in the same room, and the walls of the room are perfectly decoherence-proof. You…
gzp
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Does the extended probability ensemble interpretation of quantum mechanics make any sense?

Gell-Mann and Hartle came up with the extended probability ensemble interpretation over here. Basically, they extended probability theory to include real numbers which may be negative or greater than 1. This necessitates an unconventional…
Peroub
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Is there any quantum interpretation which isn't "crazy" at all?

Is there any quantum interpretation which isn't "crazy" at all? Exponentially many parallel worlds in MWI, superdeterministic conspiracies, and/or nonlocality in hidden variables, idealism and the idea measurements and observations create the…
Poozal
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"What is a thing?" -- Coecke versus Kastner

The subject's from Coecke's https://arxiv.org/abs/0803.0417 and my question's essentially to "compare and contrast" that with Kastner's https://arxiv.org/abs/1707.09034 which appeared today. Seems to me that Coecke's topos-theoretic, linguistic-like…
user89220
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What role does memory robots play in the many worlds interpretation?

Ron Maimon gave a very interesting answer to a question about the many worlds interpretation here. He mentions the essential role of memory robots in MWI, which is something I have never ever heard any other MWI proponent mention at all. Are memory…
Preston
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Is relational QM experimentally distinguishable from standard QM?

Some people advocate for relational quantum mechanics, which is an interpretation (or at least Wikipedia calls it an interpretation) of QM where quantum states are thought of as representing a relationship between "subject" and "object" systems,…
Nathan Reed
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Is there a manifestly Lorentz invariant formulation of the many worlds interpretation?

First, I give an absurd example. A conscious observer lives on Earth at time t. A light-year away, at a space-like separation, a nuclear bomb chain reaction goes off. A nuclear bomb chain reaction is quantum all the way and leads to a splitting into…
Gary
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Why should the observed probability distributions in quantum mechanics always align with the pointer basis of decoherence?

It has always been claimed decoherence solves the problem of the preferred-basis for observed probability distributions, but why should this be the case? If there is only one world, and there are probabilities for certain outcomes, why should the…
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What is the splitting structure of a state in thermal equilibrium in MWI?

What is the splitting structure of a state in thermal equilibrium in the many worlds interpretation? This is a mixed state, but we can perform a purification of it by doubling the system and forming a pure entangled state between both systems. Can…
Raymond
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Worlds branching or diverging in Many-Worlds Interpretation?

In recent years there seems to have been a growing discussion surrounding MWI's ontology. In the 2010 volume "Many Worlds?", Simon Saunders has a chapter dedicated to discussing whether the worlds in MWI branch or diverge. The branching view states…
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