Irreversible Quantum Dynamics

Raisa I. Karasik

Stig Stenholm

Nicolas Gisin

Eliezer Pala

This essay talks about why measurement appears irreversible even though the quantum dynamics are reversible. Using an intuitive approach with a mental image, we see that the irreversible dynamics are a local view of the reversible global dynamics. The narrative does not require in-depth conceptual knowledge. It is offered as a supportive aid for building intuition about measurement and irreversibility in quantum physics.

David Finkelstein, Mohsen Shiri-Garakani

Michael B. Weissman

Proposals to solve the problems of quantum measurement via non-linear CPT-violating modifications of quantum dynamics are argued to provide a possible fundamental explanation for the irreversibility of statistical mechanics as well. The argument is expressed in terms of collapse-free accounts. The reverse picture, in which statistical irreversibility generates quantum irreversibility, is argued to be less satisfactory because it leaves the Born probability rule unexplained.