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arXiv:1604.00987 · Fluctuation and Noise Letters

From the Universe to Subsystems: Why Quantum Mechanics Appears More Stochastic than Classical Mechanics

Andréa Oldofredi, Dustin Lazarovici, Dirk-André Deckert, Michaël Esfeld

Published Jul 7, 2016• 5 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

By means of the examples of classical and Bohmian quantum mechanics, we illustrate the well-known ideas of Boltzmann as to how one gets from laws defined for the universe as a whole the dynamical relations describing the evolution of subsystems. We explain how probabilities enter into this process, what quantum and classical probabilities have in common and where exactly their difference lies.

DOI
10.1142/s0219477516400022

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By means of the examples of classical and Bohmian quantum mechanics, we illustrate the well-known ideas of Boltzmann as to how one gets from laws defined for the universe as a whole the dynamical relations describing the evolution of subsystems. We explain how probabilities enter into this process, what quantum and classical probabilities have in common and where exactly their difference lies.
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A pedagogical introduction is given to the quantum mechanics of closed systems, most generally the universe as a whole. Quantum mechanics aims at predicting the probabilities of alternative coarse-grained time histories of a closed system. Not every set of alternative coarse-grained histories that can be described may be consistently assigned probabilities because of quantum mechanical interference between individual histories of the set. In the quantum mechanics of closed systems, containing both observer and observed, probabilities are assigned to those sets of alternative histories for which there is negligible interference between individual histories as a consequence of the system's initial condition and dynamics. Such sets of histories are said to decohere. Typical mechanisms of decoherence that are widespread in our universe are illustrated. Copenhagen quantum mechanics is an approximation to the more general quantum framework of closed subsystems. It is appropriate when there is an approximately isolated subsystem that is a participant in a measurement situation in which (among other things) the decoherence of alternative registrations of the apparatus can be idealized as exact. Since the quantum mechanics of closed systems does not posit the existence of the quasiclassical domain of everyday experience, the domain of the approximate aplicability of classical physics must be explained. We describe how a quasiclassical domain described by averages of densities of approximately conserved quantities could be an emergent feature of an initial condition of the universe that implies the approximate classical behavior of spacetime on accessible scales.
This work discusses simple examples how quantum systems are obtained as subsystems of classical statistical systems. For a single qubit with arbitrary Hamiltonian and for the quantum particle in a harmonic potential we provide explicitly all steps how these quantum systems follow from an overall ''classical" probability distribution for events at all times. This overall probability distribution is the analogue of Feynman's functional integral for quantum mechanics or for the functional integral defining a quantum field theory. In our case the action and associated weight factor are real, however, defining a classical probabilistic system. Nevertheless, a unitary time-evolution of wave functions can be realized for suitable systems, in particular probabilistic automata. Based on these insights we discuss novel aspects for correlated computing not requiring the extreme isolation of quantum computers. A simple neuromorphic computer based on neurons in an active or quiet state within a probabilistic environment can learn the unitary transformations of an entangled two-qubit system. Our explicit constructions constitute a proof that no-go theorems for the embedding of quantum mechanics in classical statistics are circumvented. We show in detail how subsystems of classical statistical systems can explain various ``quantum mysteries". Conceptually our approach is a straightforward derivation starting from an overall probability distribution without invoking non-locality, acausality, contextuality, many worlds or other additional concepts. All quantum laws follow directly from the standard properties of classical probabilities.
A pedagogical introduction is given to the quantum mechanics of closed systems, most generally the universe as a whole. Quantum mechanics aims at predicting the probabilities of alternative coarse-grained time histories of a closed system. Not every set of alternative coarse-grained histories that can be described may be consistently assigned probabilities because of quantum mechanical interference between individual histories of the set. In “Copenhagen ” quantum mechanics, probabilities can be assigned to histories of a subsystem that have been “measured”. In the quantum mechanics of closed systems, containing both observer and observed, probabilities are assigned to those sets of alternative histories for which there is negligible interference between individual histories as a consequence of the system’s initial condition and dynamics. Such sets of histories are said to decohere. We define decoherence for closed systems in the simplified case when quantum gravity can be neglected and the initial state is pure. Typical mechanisms of decoherence that are widespread in our universe are illustrated. Copenhagen quantum mechanics is an approximation to the more general quantum framework of closed subsystems. It is appropriate when there is an approximately isolated subsystem that is a participant in a measurement situation in which (among other things) the decoherence of alternative registrations of the apparatus can be idealized as exact. Since the quantum mechanics of closed systems does not posit the existence of the quasiclassical domain of everyday experience, the domain of the approximate aplicability of classical physics must be explained. We describe how a quasiclassical domain described by averages of densities of approximately conserved quantities could be an emergent feature of an initial condition of the universe that implies the approximate classical behavior of spacetime on accessible scales.
Introduction. There exists a very comprehensive theory concerning the time development of probabilistic systems. This is the Theory of Stochastic processes (1). Quantum mechanics as described by the Schrödinger equation rests very heavily on probabilistic interpretation, and yet, after forty years of remarkably rapid advances and successes, it is not clear how it is related to stochastic theory. The formal similarity of certain aspects of, and equations used in these two theories are well known. The diffusion equation corresponds to the Schrödinger equation, a correspondence only marred by a square root of minus unity appearing with the time derivative in the latter equation. The Kolmogoroff–Chapman relation for probabilities in Brownian motion has an analogue (2) in quantum mechanics, not for probabilities though, but for the complex probability amplitudes. The uncertainty relation also has a stochastic analogue (3). Some of these analogous characteristics are actually symptomatic of the gulf which separates these two theories. There are solutions to the diffusion equation which have a very clear physical probabilistic meaning. This is not the case with the corresponding and formally similar solutions to the Schrödinger equation and is partly due to the √ − 1 mentioned earlier. The probabilistic interpretation of the solutions to the diffusion equation is direct and immediate. On the other hand, the probabilistic interpretation of the solutions, ψ of the Schrödinger equation involve the introduction of the probability density, p = ψ*ψ. One great difference between these two theories lies in their each having distinct principles of linear superposition. In Stochastic Theory probabilities are superposed and in quantum mechanics amplitudes or wave functions are superposed.
The conceptual setting of quantum mechanics is subject to an ongoing debate from its beginnings until now. The consequences of the apparent differences between quantum statistics and classical statistics range from the philosophical interpretations to practical issues as quantum computing. In this note we demonstrate how quantum mechanics can emerge from classical statistical systems. We discuss conditions and circumstances for this to happen. Quantum systems describe isolated subsystems of classical statistical systems with infinitely many states. While infinitely many classical observables "measure" properties of the subsystem and its environment, the state of the subsystem can be characterized by the expectation values of only a few probabilistic observables. They define a density matrix, and all the usual laws of quantum mechanics follow. No concepts beyond classical statistics are needed for quantum physics – the differences are only apparent and result from the particularities of those classical statistical systems which admit a quantum mechanical description. In particular, we show how the non-commuting properties of quantum operators are associated to the use of conditiona probabilities within the classical system, and how a unitary time evolution reflects the isolation of the subsystem.