Time is one of the undisputed foundations of our life in the real world. Here it is argued that inside small isolated quantum systems, time does not pass as we are used to, and it is primarily in this sense that quantum objects enjoy only limited reality. Quantum systems, which we know, are embedded in the everyday classical world. Their preparation as well as their measurement-phases leave durable records and traces in the entropy of the environment. The Landauer Principle then gives a quantitative threshold for irreversibility. With double slit experiments and tunneling as paradigmatic examples, it is proposed that a label of timelessness offers clues for rendering a Copenhagen-type interpretation of quantum physics more "realistic" and acceptable by providing a coarse but viable link from the fundamental quantum realm to the classical world which humans directly experience.
Time is one of the undisputed foundations of our life in the real world. Here it is argued that inside small isolated quantum systems, time does not pass as we are used to, and it is primarily in this sense that quantum objects enjoy only limited reality. Quantum systems, which we know, are embedded in the everyday classical world. Their preparation as well as their measurement-phases leave durable records and traces in the entropy of the environment. The Landauer Principle then gives a quantitative threshold for irreversibility. With double slit experiments and tunneling as paradigmatic examples, it is proposed that a label of timelessness offers clues for rendering a Copenhagen-type interpretation of quantum physics more "realistic" and acceptable by providing a coarse but viable link from the fundamental quantum realm to the classical world which humans directly experience.
After some 80 years, the meaning of quantum theory remains as controversial as ever. The theory, as presented in textbooks, involves a human observer performing experiments with microscopic quantum systems using macroscopic classical apparatus. The quantum system is described by a wavefunction – a mathematical object that is used to calculate probabilities but which gives no clear description of the state of reality of a single system. In contrast, the observer and apparatus are described classically and are assumed to have definite states of reality. For example, a pointer on a measuring device will show a particular reading, or a particle detector will "fire" a definite number of times. Quantum systems seem to inhabit a fuzzy, indefinite realm, while our everyday macroscopic world does not, even though the latter is ultimately built from the former.
It is often claimed that the fundamental laws of physics are deterministic and time-symmetric and that therefore our experience of the passage of time is an illusion. This paper will critically discuss these claims and show that they are based on the misconception that the laws of physics are an exact and complete description of nature. I will argue that all supposedly fundamental deterministic and time-symmetric laws have their limitations and are supplemented by stochastic and irreversible elements. In fact, a deterministic description of a system is valid only as long as interactions with the rest of the world can be ignored. The most famous example is the quantum measurement process that occurs when a quantum system interacts with a macroscopic environment such as a measurement apparatus. This environment determines in a top-down way the possible outcomes of the measurement and their probabilities. I will argue that more generally the possible events that can occur in a system and their probabilities are the result of top-down influences from the wider context. In this way the microscopic level of a system is causally open to influences from the macroscopic environment. In conclusion, indeterminism and irreversibility are the result of a system being embedded in a wider context.
A striking feature of our fundamentally indeterministic quantum universe is its quasiclassical realm -- the wide range of time place and scale in which the deterministic laws of classical physics hold. Our quasiclassical realmis an emergent feature of the fundamental theories of our universe's quantum state and dynamics. There are many types of quasiclassical realms our Universe could exhibit characterized by different variables, different levels of coarse-graining, different locations in spacetime, different classical physics, and different levels of classicality.We propose a measure of classicality for quasiclassical realms, We speculate on the observable consequences of different levels of classicality especially for information gathering and utilizing systems (IGUSes) such ourselves as observers of the Universe.
Start with time, that it commits forward, and it explains gravity, entanglement, and measurement without new assumptions. This essay argues that the treatment of time in general relativity and quantum mechanics is coarse-grained. The theories are time-symmetric because they average or dismiss time. One cannot be folded into the other because they have accounted for the ordering in different ways. Consider: We accepted absolute time because Newton's gravity was so accurate. We then accepted "no universal now" because relativity was even more accurate. We somehow also accept the background time on which QM relies. These are clues: Newton's formula has no t. Einstein's is reversible. And QM uses the decohered-environment's time but can't explain decoherence itself. We know what our best physics says about time. And we know how time actually flows from everyday experience. A scientific mind is justified in concluding that any theory which doesn't account for the forward march of time is incomplete. This essay introduces the Event Density framework, which makes time fundamental. The commitment of (Planck-scale) events is the tick of time. Gravity is the tendency toward slower-ticking time. QM is the study of before (or between) commitments; before the first ticks of entangled particles, for example. Measurement is just commitment — possibilities becoming facts and becoming a tick. Reality, what we call the classical world, is relentless ticking. Everything is updating and ticking with existence. If you remember learning once that solid objects are most empty, consider that they are also blinking and enjoy that wonder again.
Schrödinger's cat has long been interpreted by the mainstream as intuitive proof of quantum superposition, but its original intention was Schrödinger's irony and reduction to absurdity of the Copenhagen interpretation. This paper points out that the so-called quantum superposition is not the real physical state of microscopic particles, but the uncertainty phenomenon caused by limited observation methods and inevitable measurement interference. Modern double-slit experiments have realized the emission of single electrons and single photons one by one. Even if only one particle is emitted each time, interference fringes still appear after accumulation. This fact directly proves that each particle has a unique and definite position and path at any time, rather than a superposition state passing through double slits simultaneously. The fundamental reason why a single particle can produce interference is that the particle itself vibrates continuously and has wave properties, rather than a metaphysical superposition state. From the four aspects of original intention, experimental evidence, physical nature and logical judgment, this paper thoroughly clarifies the conceptual substitution of superposition, reveals the objective laws of reality, certainty and uniqueness in the microscopic world, and calls on physics to return to rationality, logic and common sense.
Since Schrödinger’s quantum mechanics developed from Hamiltonian, I will show that his quantum machine is a timeless (t = 0) mechanics, which includes his fundamental principle of superposition. Since one of the most controversial paradoxes in science must be Schrödinger’s cat. We will show that the myth of his hypothesis is “not” a physical realizable postulation. The most important aspect in quantum theory must be the probabilistic implication of science, a set of most elegant and simple laws and principles, which will be discussed. Since information and entropy have a profound connection, we will show that information is one of very important science in quantum theory, for which several significant aspects of information transmission will be stressed. Nevertheless, the myth of quantum theory turns out to be not Schrodinger’s cat but the nature of a section of time Δt. Since time is a quantity that we cannot physically manipulate, we could change the section Δt but not the speed of time. Although we can squeeze a section of Δt, but we cannot squeeze Δt to zero. And this is the ultimate quantum limit of “instantaneous” response we can never be able to obtain. Since time traveling is one of the very interesting topics in science, I will show that time traveling is impossible even at the speed of light. Nevertheless, I will show quantum mechanics is a temporal (t > 0) physical realizable mechanics, and it should “not” be as virtual and timeless (t = 0) as mathematic does.