The reality of the quantum jump

Ruth E. Kastner

This brief note in response to Wojciech Zurek's article "Quantum Darwinism, classical reality, and the randomness of quantum jumps" (Physics Today, October 2014, page 44) points out extant rebuttals in the literature to some of the author's key claims.

Abner Shimony

H. J. Carmichael

Matti Pitkänen

The ontology of TGD inspired theory of consciousness  consist of the trinity formed by objective realities represented by configuration space spinor fields, subjective realities defined by quantum jump sequences between quantum histories (selves), and geometrical objects (res extensa) represented by spacetime surfaces. The infinite-dimensional configuration space of 3-surfaces is believed to be determined completely by the requirement that it allows Kahler geometry free of infinities: infinite- dimensional ontology is fixed by self consistency. Quantum histories (configuration space spinor fields, ’solutions of field equations’) are not only representations for objective realities but identical with them: painting is the landscape so that there is no theory-reality dualism at this level. Quantum histories can be also identified as inhabitants of the Platonic realm of ideas. p-Adic nondetermism and the nondeterminism of the basic variational principle defining configuration space geometry correspond to the nondeterminisms of cognition and language. These nondeterminisms make it possible to represent, not only the quantal aspects of quantum states, but also quantum jumps sequences defining selves as spacetime regions. This explains the self-referentiality of consciousness meaning that it is possible to become conscious of being conscious about something. One ends up to a view about mathematics in which one must distinguish between mathematical ideas at the level of quantum histories and quantum jump sequences (’that which is’), and their cognitive and linguistic representations at spacetime level: the latter ones can never be faithful so that in this sense the map is not the territory.

Axel Schenzle

Wojciech Hubert Zurek

Emergence of the classical from the quantum substrate is a long-standing conundrum. The chapter describes its resolution based on three insights that stem from the recognition of the role of the environment. The chapter begins with the derivation of preferred states that define “events”, the essence of everyday classical reality. They arise from the tension between the unitary quantum dynamics and the nonlinear amplification inherent in replicating information. The resulting pointer states are consistent with these obtained via environment-induced superselection (einselection). They determine what can happen by defining events such as quantum jumps without appealing to Born’s rule for probabilities. Probabilities can be now deduced from envariance (a symmetry of entangled quantum states). With probabilities at hand one can quantify information flows accompanying decoherence. Effective amplification they represent explains perception of objective classical reality arising from within the quantum universe through redundancy of the pointer state records in their environment—through quantum Darwinism.