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An Exceptionally Simple Argument Against the Many-worlds Interpretation: Further Consolidations

Shan Gao

Published Dec 29, 2012• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

It is argued that the components of the superposed wave function of a measuring device, each of which represents a definite measurement result, do not correspond to many worlds, one of which is our world, because all components of the wave function can be measured in our world by a serious of protective measurements, and they all exist in this world.

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An exceptionally simple argument against the many-worlds interpretation

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It is shown that the components of the wave function of a measuring device, each of which represents a definite measurement result, do not correspond to many worlds as assumed by the many-worlds interpretation, because all components of the superposed wave function can be observed in our world by protective measurement, and they all exist in one world. According to the many-worlds interpretation, each component of the wave function of a measuring device that represents a definite measurement result corresponds to each world among the many worlds (Barrett 2011). This means that in one world there is only one component of the superposed wave function and the other components do not exist, and thus these components that cor-respond to the other worlds cannot be observed in this world. As a result, in every world the whole superposed wave function of the measuring device cannot be measured. It is unsurprising that the existence of such many worlds may be consistent with the results of conventional impulse measurements1, as the many-worlds interpretation is just invented to explain the emergence of these results, e.g. the definite measurement result in each world always denotes the result of a conventional impulse measurement. However, this does not guarantee consis-tency for all types of measurements. It has been known that there exists an-other type of measurement, the protective measurement (Aharonov and Vaid-

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It is argued that the components of the superposed wave function of a measuring device, each of which represents a definite measurement result, do not correspond to many worlds, one of which is our world, because all components of the wave function can be measured in our world by a serious of protective measurements, and they all exist in this world.
It is shown that the components of the wave function of a measuring device, each of which represents a definite measurement result, do not correspond to many worlds as assumed by the many-worlds interpretation, because all components of the superposed wave function can be observed in our world by protective measurement, and they all exist in one world. According to the many-worlds interpretation, each component of the wave function of a measuring device that represents a definite measurement result corresponds to each world among the many worlds (Barrett 2011). This means that in one world there is only one component of the superposed wave function and the other components do not exist, and thus these components that cor-respond to the other worlds cannot be observed in this world. As a result, in every world the whole superposed wave function of the measuring device cannot be measured. It is unsurprising that the existence of such many worlds may be consistent with the results of conventional impulse measurements1, as the many-worlds interpretation is just invented to explain the emergence of these results, e.g. the definite measurement result in each world always denotes the result of a conventional impulse measurement. However, this does not guarantee consis-tency for all types of measurements. It has been known that there exists an-other type of measurement, the protective measurement (Aharonov and Vaid-
It is a fundamental and widely accepted assumption that a measure-ment result exists universally, and in particular, it exists for every ob-server, independently of whether the observer makes the measurement or knows the result. In this paper, we will argue that, based on an analysis of protective measurements, this assumption is rejected by the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, and worlds, if they indeed exist ac-cording to the interpretation, can only exist relative to systems which are decoherent with respect to the measurement result. In standard quantum mechanics, it is postulated that when the wave func-tion of a quantum system is measured by a macroscopic device, it no longer follows the linear Schrödinger equation, but instantaneously collapses to one of the wave functions that correspond to definite measurement results. However, this collapse postulate is ad hoc, and the theory does not tell us why and how a definite measurement result appears. This measurement problem is widely
In their article “On What It Takes To Be a World”, David Albert and Jeffrey Barrett raise “a rather urgent question about what the proponents of a many-worlds interpretation [of quantum mechanics] can possibly mean by the term ‘worlds’” (1995, 35). I argue that their considerations do not translate into an argument against the Many-Worlds conception of a world unless one requires that the dispositions that measurement devices display through the outcomes they record be explainable in terms of facts particular to the worlds in which those devices do their recording. Granting that their conception of a world takes away the possibility of such an explanation, a Many-Worlds proponent can claim that the Universal quantum state, which does not represent a fact about any world in particular, is enough to ground the dispositions of measurement devices.
The problem of measurement taken at face value shows clearly that there is an inconsistency inside the quantum formalism.The phenomenon of decoherence is often presented as a solution to it.A widely debated question is to decide between two different interpretations.The first one is to consider that the decoherence process has the effect to actually project a superposed state into one of its classically interpretable component, hence doing the same job as the reduction postulate.For the second one, decoherence is only a way to show why no macroscopic superposed state can be observed and so, to explain the classical appearance of the macroscopic world, while the quantum entanglement between the system, the apparatus and the environment never disappears.In this case, explaining why only one single definite outcome is observed remains to do.In this paper, we examine arguments for and against both interpretations and defend a position according to which the outcome that is observed is relative to the observer in close parallel to the Everett interpretation.
This thesis takes a look at the many-worlds interpretation (MWI) and discusses if it can become the leading interpretation of quantum mechanics. Firstly the Copenhagen interpretation is outlined and its issues relating to the measurement problem are discussed while taking recent insights in decoherence theory into account. Establishing that wave-function collapse still yields interpretational issues, I discuss the ideas of Hugh Everett, who proposed the many-worlds interpretation, and David Wallace who is a prominent advocate of the MWI. In particular I discuss and review Wallace's arguments in favor of viewing the wave-function and the many worlds realistically. The next part shortly focuses on the testability of the many-worlds interpretation and the philosophical and theoretical issues relating to probability in the MWI. I end by concluding that the no-collapse interpretations are preferable to the Copenhagen interpretation, and I argue in favor of a realistic view towards all of the worlds. Furthermore, I conclude that standard textbooks on quantum mechanics should be updated to introduce students to the insight that wave-function collapse isn't needed in forming a complete theory of quantum mechanics.