Resolution of the measurement problem through decoherence of the quantum state

Paul Meuffels

Richard Healey

This paper aims to show how adoption of a pragmatist interpretation permits a satisfactory resolution of the quantum measurement problem. The classic measurement problem dissolves once one recognizes that it is not the function of the quantum state to describe or represent the behavior of a quantum system. The residual problem of when, and to what, to apply the Born Rule may then be resolved by judicious appeal to decoherence. This can give sense to talk of measurements of photons and other particles even though quantum field theory does not describe particles.

Richard Healey

Abstract This essay aims to show how adoption of a pragmatist interpretation permits a satisfactory resolution of the quantum measurement problem. The classic measurement problem dissolves once one recognizes that it is not the function of a quantum state to describe or represent the behavior of a quantum system. The residual problem of when, and to what, to apply the Born Rule may then be resolved by judicious appeal to decoherence. This can give sense to talk of measurements of photons and other particles in applications of quantum field theory. A quantum field theory does not describe a physical system to which it is applied as containing particles or fields. But pragmatist inferentialism shows when one may talk of particles or of fields when describing outcomes of measurements on systems to which a quantum field theory is applied.

Michael B. Mensky

Михаил Борисович Менский

Fred H. Thaheld

Schlosshauer has advanced a theory of minimal no-collapse quantum mechanics for a decoherence-based subjective resolution of the measurement problem. The basic premise being that superposition states are maintained beyond the retinal apparatus, becoming correlated with neuronal arrays located in the occipital lobe of the brain. Decoherence for these neurons in a superposition of firing and resting, leads to an irreversible dynamical decoupling of the two branches, resulting in the emergence of a single subjective perception. Based upon prior retinal research, it is shown that his theory is untenable for several reasons.