On a Lorentz Invariant Quantum Theory of Measurement

Donald M. Marolf, Carlo Rovelli C

Does the measurement of a quantum system necessarily break Lorentz invariance? We present a simple model of a detector that measures the spacetime localization of a relativistic particle in a Lorentz invariant manner. The detector does not select a preferred Lorentz frame as a Newton-Wigner measurement would do. The result indicates that there exists a Lorentz invariant notion of quantum measurement and sheds light on the issue of the localization of a relativistic particle. The framework considered is that of single-particle mechanics as opposed to field theory. The result may be taken as support for the interpretation postulate of the spacetime-states formulation of single-particle quantum theory.

Bernard d’Espagnat

Jan Peřina, Z. Hradil, Branislav Jurčo

Lev Vaidman A

It is shown that joint measurements of certain commuting operators, performed on pre- and postselected quantum systems, invariably disturb each other. This result is applied to recent assertions that quantum theory has no realistic Lorentz-invariant interpretation (even without requiring locality).

Xiaobao Liu, Zehua Tian, Jieci Wang +1 more

We address the optimal estimation of quantum parameters, in the framework of local quantum estimation theory, for a massive scalar quantum field in the expanding Robertson-Walker universe exhibiting Lorentz invariance violation (LIV). The information about the history of the expanding spacetime in the presence of LIV can be extracted by taking measurements on the entangled state of particle modes. We find that, in the estimation of cosmological parameters, the ultimate bounds to the precision of the Lorentz-invariant massive scalar field can be improved due to the effects of LIV under some appropriate conditions. We also show that, in the Lorentz-invariant massive scalar field and massless scalar field due to LIV backgrounds, the optimal precision can be achieved by choosing the particles with some suitable LIV, cosmological and field parameters. Moreover, in the estimation of LIV parameter during the spacetime expansion, we prove that the appropriate momentum mode of field particles and larger cosmological parameters can provide us a better precision. Particularly, the optimal precision of the parameters estimation can be obtained by performing projective measurements implemented by the projectors onto the eigenvectors of specific probe states.

Willis E. Lamb