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Schrodinger's Cat: Empirical Research into the Radical Subjective solution of the Measurement problem.

Dick J. Bierman, Stephen Whitmarsh

Published Jan 1, 2007• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Schrodinger's Cat: Empirical research into the radical subjective solution of the measurement problem\n\nDick J. Bierman & Stephen Whitmarsh\n\n \n\nThe most controversial of all solutions of the measurement problem holds that a measurement is not completed until a conscious observation is made.\n\nIn other words quantum physics is a science of potentialities and the measurement i.c. the conscious observation brings about the reality by reducing the state vector to one of the Eigen-states.\n\nIn a series of experiments modeled after the famous experiment by the Shimony group we have explored the brain responses of observers of a quantum event. \n\nIn about 50% of the exosures this quantum event had already been observed about one second earlier by another person. This random manipulation was unknown to the final observer. \n\nThe first experiment along these lines gave suggestive evidence for a difference in brain responses dependent on the manipulation. In subsequent experiments quantum events were mixed with classical events and the results of these experiments that have been reported elsewhere were ambiguous. \n\nIn a final experiment we are trying to solve the paradoxical results obtained so far. In this experiment the final observer receives detailed information about the type of event that (s)he observes. Also the experimental protocol is such that not only pre-observed events cannot be distinguished from not pre-observed events on the basis of their physical characteristic but neither on the basis of inter-event time distributions.

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The most discussed thought experiment in quantum mechanics (QM) is the one of the dead+living cat, which sets out to explain what is known as the measurement problem. Since the first years of QM, and despite various arguments, the widespread beliefs of the past few years have tended towards including a conscious observer in the act of measurement. Various different opinions have been expressed on the measurement problem by various schools of thought and leading physicists, but none of them has been decisive. Especially, the introduction of an observer (human-brain-consciousness-mind-intelligence) carrying out measurements into the experiment or into the setup of the experiment has led to even more complex problems. Today also, new solutions are being put forward. This article deals with the thought experiment of Schrodinger’s cat and suggestions for alternative solutions by introducing a conscious observer. NeuroQuantology |June 2012 | Volume 10 | Issue 2 | Page 216-229

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Quantum mechanics is usually defined in terms of some loosely connected axioms and rules. Such a foundation is far from the beauty of, e.g., the `principles' underlying classical mechanics. Motivated, in addition, by notorious interpretation problems, there have been numerous attempts to modify or `complete' quantum mechanics. A first attempt was based on so-called hidden variables; its proponents essentially tried to expel the non-classical nature of quantum mechanics. More recent proposals intend to complete quantum mechanics not within mechanics proper but on a `higher (synthetic) level'; by means of a combination with gravitation theory (R Penrose), with quantum information theory (C M Caves, C A Fuchs) or with psychology and brain science (H P Stapp). I think it is fair to say that in each case the combination is with a subject that, per se , suffers from a very limited understanding that is even more severe than that of quantum mechanics. This was acceptable, though, if it could convincingly be argued that scientific progress desperately needs to join forces. Quantum mechanics of a closed system was a beautiful and well understood theory with its respective state being presented as a point on a deterministic trajectory in Liouville space---not unlike the motion of a classical N -particle system in its 6N -dimensional phase-space. Unfortunately, we need an inside and an outside view, we need an external reference frame, we need an observer. This unavoidable partition is the origin of most of the troubles we have with quantum mechanics. A pragmatic solution is introduced in the form of so-called measurement postulates: one of the various incompatible properties of the system under consideration is supposed to be realized (i.e. to become a fact, to be defined without fundamental dispersion) based on `instantaneous' projections within some externally selected measurement basis. As a result, the theory becomes essentially statistical rather than deterministic; furthermore there is an asymmetry between the observed and the observing. This is the point where consciousness may come in. Complemented by an introduction and several appendices, Henry Stapp's book consists essentially of three parts: theory, implications, and new developments. The theory part gives a very readable account of the Copenhagen interpretation, some aspects of a psychophysical theory, and, eventually, hints towards a quantum foundation of the brain--mind connection. The next part, `implications', summarizes some previous attempts to bridge the gap between the working rules of quantum mechanics and their possible consequences for our understanding of this world (Pauli, Everett, Bohm, Heisenberg). The last section, `new developments', dwells on some ideas about the conscious brain and its possible foundation on quantum mechanics. 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To avoid infinite regression in terms of going from one state of tendencies to the next, consciousness is there to give these events a special `feel', to provide a status of `intrinsic actuality'. The brain of an alert human observer is similar in an important way to a quantum detection device: it can amplify small signals to large macroscopic effects. On the other hand, actual events are not postulated to occur exclusively in brains. They are more generally associated with the formation of records. Records are necessarily part of the total state of the universe: it is obvious that the state of the universe cannot undergo a Schrödinger dynamics and at the same time record its own history. `The full universe consists therefore of an exceedingly thin veneer of relatively sluggish, directly observable properties resting on a vast ocean or rapidly fluctuating unobservable ones.' The present ideas also bear on how the world should be seen to develop. 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This sounds like an absolute concept: meaning not with respect to something else, but defined intrinsically---not easy to digest. The role of consciousness in the developing quantum universe requires more attention. `The causal irrelevance of our thoughts within classical physics constitutes a serious deficiency of that theory, construed as a description of reality.' This is taken to be entirely different within quantum mechanics. `The core idea of quantum mechanics is to describe our activities as knowledge-seeking and knowledge-using agents.' `21st century science does not reduce human beings to mechanical automata. Rather it elevates human beings to agents whose free choices can, according to the known laws, actually influence their behaviour.' An example with respect to perception is discussed: `Why, when we look at a triangle, do we experience three lines joined at three points and not some pattern of neuron firings?' 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AIP conference proceedings•Jan 1, 2006•17 citations
Schrodinger's Cat: Empirical research into the radical subjective solution of the measurement problem\n\nDick J. Bierman & Stephen Whitmarsh\n\n \n\nThe most controversial of all solutions of the measurement problem holds that a measurement is not completed until a conscious observation is made.\n\nIn other words quantum physics is a science of potentialities and the measurement i.c. the conscious observation brings about the reality by reducing the state vector to one of the Eigen-states.\n\nIn a series of experiments modeled after the famous experiment by the Shimony group we have explored the brain responses of observers of a quantum event. \n\nIn about 50% of the exosures this quantum event had already been observed about one second earlier by another person. This random manipulation was unknown to the final observer. \n\nThe first experiment along these lines gave suggestive evidence for a difference in brain responses dependent on the manipulation. In subsequent experiments quantum events were mixed with classical events and the results of these experiments that have been reported elsewhere were ambiguous. \n\nIn a final experiment we are trying to solve the paradoxical results obtained so far. In this experiment the final observer receives detailed information about the type of event that (s)he observes. Also the experimental protocol is such that not only pre-observed events cannot be distinguished from not pre-observed events on the basis of their physical characteristic but neither on the basis of inter-event time distributions.
The most discussed thought experiment in quantum mechanics (QM) is the one of the dead+living cat, which sets out to explain what is known as the measurement problem. Since the first years of QM, and despite various arguments, the widespread beliefs of the past few years have tended towards including a conscious observer in the act of measurement. Various different opinions have been expressed on the measurement problem by various schools of thought and leading physicists, but none of them has been decisive. Especially, the introduction of an observer (human-brain-consciousness-mind-intelligence) carrying out measurements into the experiment or into the setup of the experiment has led to even more complex problems. Today also, new solutions are being put forward. This article deals with the thought experiment of Schrodinger’s cat and suggestions for alternative solutions by introducing a conscious observer. NeuroQuantology |June 2012 | Volume 10 | Issue 2 | Page 216-229
Quantum mechanics is usually defined in terms of some loosely connected axioms and rules. Such a foundation is far from the beauty of, e.g., the `principles' underlying classical mechanics. Motivated, in addition, by notorious interpretation problems, there have been numerous attempts to modify or `complete' quantum mechanics. A first attempt was based on so-called hidden variables; its proponents essentially tried to expel the non-classical nature of quantum mechanics. More recent proposals intend to complete quantum mechanics not within mechanics proper but on a `higher (synthetic) level'; by means of a combination with gravitation theory (R Penrose), with quantum information theory (C M Caves, C A Fuchs) or with psychology and brain science (H P Stapp). I think it is fair to say that in each case the combination is with a subject that, per se , suffers from a very limited understanding that is even more severe than that of quantum mechanics. This was acceptable, though, if it could convincingly be argued that scientific progress desperately needs to join forces. Quantum mechanics of a closed system was a beautiful and well understood theory with its respective state being presented as a point on a deterministic trajectory in Liouville space---not unlike the motion of a classical N -particle system in its 6N -dimensional phase-space. Unfortunately, we need an inside and an outside view, we need an external reference frame, we need an observer. This unavoidable partition is the origin of most of the troubles we have with quantum mechanics. A pragmatic solution is introduced in the form of so-called measurement postulates: one of the various incompatible properties of the system under consideration is supposed to be realized (i.e. to become a fact, to be defined without fundamental dispersion) based on `instantaneous' projections within some externally selected measurement basis. As a result, the theory becomes essentially statistical rather than deterministic; furthermore there is an asymmetry between the observed and the observing. This is the point where consciousness may come in. Complemented by an introduction and several appendices, Henry Stapp's book consists essentially of three parts: theory, implications, and new developments. The theory part gives a very readable account of the Copenhagen interpretation, some aspects of a psychophysical theory, and, eventually, hints towards a quantum foundation of the brain--mind connection. The next part, `implications', summarizes some previous attempts to bridge the gap between the working rules of quantum mechanics and their possible consequences for our understanding of this world (Pauli, Everett, Bohm, Heisenberg). The last section, `new developments', dwells on some ideas about the conscious brain and its possible foundation on quantum mechanics. The book is an interesting and, in part, fascinating contribution to a field that continues to be a companion to `practical' quantum mechanics since its very beginning. It is doubtful whether such types of `quantum ontologies' will ever become (empirically) testable; right now one can hardly expect more than to be offered some consistent `grand picture', which the reader may find more or less acceptable or even rewarding. Many practicing quantum physicists, though, will remain unimpressed. The shift from synthetic ontology to analytic ontology is the foundation of the present work. This means that fundamental wholes are being partitioned into their ontologically subordinate components by means of `events'. The actual event, in turn, is an abrupt change in the Heisenberg state describing the quantum universe. The new state then defines the tendencies associated with the next actual event. To avoid infinite regression in terms of going from one state of tendencies to the next, consciousness is there to give these events a special `feel', to provide a status of `intrinsic actuality'. The brain of an alert human observer is similar in an important way to a quantum detection device: it can amplify small signals to large macroscopic effects. On the other hand, actual events are not postulated to occur exclusively in brains. They are more generally associated with the formation of records. Records are necessarily part of the total state of the universe: it is obvious that the state of the universe cannot undergo a Schrödinger dynamics and at the same time record its own history. `The full universe consists therefore of an exceedingly thin veneer of relatively sluggish, directly observable properties resting on a vast ocean or rapidly fluctuating unobservable ones.' The present ideas also bear on how the world should be seen to develop. While conventional cosmology encounters problems as to how to define the intial conditions, which would enter the governing equations of motion, here `the boundary conditions are set not at some initial time, but gradually by a sequence of acts that imposes a sequence of constraints. After any sequence of acts there remains a collection of possible worlds, some of which will be eliminated by the next act.' Connected with those acts is `meaning': there has always been some speculation about the special significance of local properties in our understanding of the world. One could argue that correlations (even the quantum correlations found, e.g., in the EPR-experiments) were as real as anything else. But also Stapp stresses the special role of locality: the `local observable properties, or properties similar to them are the natural, and perhaps exclusive, carriers of meaning in the quantum universe. From this point of view the quantum universe tends to create meaning.' This sounds like an absolute concept: meaning not with respect to something else, but defined intrinsically---not easy to digest. The role of consciousness in the developing quantum universe requires more attention. `The causal irrelevance of our thoughts within classical physics constitutes a serious deficiency of that theory, construed as a description of reality.' This is taken to be entirely different within quantum mechanics. `The core idea of quantum mechanics is to describe our activities as knowledge-seeking and knowledge-using agents.' `21st century science does not reduce human beings to mechanical automata. Rather it elevates human beings to agents whose free choices can, according to the known laws, actually influence their behaviour.' An example with respect to perception is discussed: `Why, when we look at a triangle, do we experience three lines joined at three points and not some pattern of neuron firings?' The brain `does not convert an actual whole triangle into some jumbled set of particle motions; rather it converts a concatenation of separate external events into the actualization of some single integrated pattern of neural activity that is congruent to the perceived whole triangle.' How convincing is this proposal? It is hard to tell. I think Henry Stapp did a good job, but there are tight limitations to any such endeavour. Quantum mechanics is often strange indeed, but it also gives rise to our classical world around us. For the emergence of classicality jumps and measurement projections (the basic phenomena connected with those fundamental events of choice) are not needed. Therefore, I doubt whether the explanation of the evolution of our world really allows (or requires) that much free choice. On the other hand, most scientist will agree that empirical science was not possible without free will: we could not ask independent questions if this asking was part of a deterministic trajectory. The fact that the result of a quantum measurement is indeterminate (within given probabilities) does certainly not explain free will. How about the type of measurment? The experimentalist will have to assume that he can select the pertinent observable within some limits. But given a certain design the so-called pointer basis (producing stable measurement results) is no longer a matter of free choice. `The main theme of classical physics is that we live in a clocklike universe.' Today it is often assumed that the universe was a big (quantum-) computer or a cellular automaton. Many would be all too happy to leave that rather restrictive picture behind. But where to go? Stapp suggests giving consciousness a prominent role: `The most profound alteration of the fundamental principles was to bring consciousness of human beings into the basic structure of the physical theory.' How far we are able to go in this direction will depend on the amount of concrete research results becoming available to support this view.
The book presents a multidisciplinary analysis of the context of quantum physics experiments and the function of the human mind that makes it possible to demonstrate that an object-based model of reality formed at the level of the unconscious is the basis of our worldview. The consciousness experiences a ''time flow'' because of the specific features of perception in the form of a model with a sequential fixation of events. Together with the need to relate objects in terms of the model, this generates a space-time representation of the world around us. Acceptance of a mental character of our construct of reality allows for resolution of the problems in quantum physics and its paradoxes, thereby opening the way to an insight into reality. The presented material is organized in a specific order to facilitate the reader's understanding. First, the fact that if there are no objects in the area of quantum mechanics, then they belong to the corresponding model rather than the reality is proved by case studies of the most discussed and relevant paradoxes of quantum physics. The authors consider a topological variant in constructing an object-based space that describes the physical properties of an object that are the most verified in science and describable with mathematical relations. The functionality of the proposed construct is tested by deriving the ''laws'' of conservation of energy and momentum in a relativistic form. The book is oriented towards experts in physics and psychology, advanced students, and readers interested in state-of-the-art science and the philosophy connected to it.
Some of the quantum mechanical conceptual problems, their current status, and related theoretical developments are reviewed. The characteristics of the entangled quantum states are analyzed, and new experiments and quantum information applications involving such states are discussed. The well-known paradox of Schroedinger's cat (the impossibility of observing superpositions of macroscopically distinct states that are predicted by quantum mechanics) is discussed. It is shown that decoherence (arising when a quantum system is measured in such a way that some information about its state is recorded in its environment) prevents the distinguishing of a superposition and the corresponding mixture. This overcomes the difficulties associated with the paradoxical nature of quantum measurement provided we remain within the framework of the theory of open systems. Other conceptual difficulties, while actually lying outside physics, are now the subject of much research and have already led to new interesting interpretations of quantum mechanics. The suggestion of Wigner and others that the observer's consciousness be included in the theory of quantum measurement is discussed in this context. A hypothesis is put forward which might enable the functioning of consciousness to be described in quantum measurement terms.
The basic idea of quantum mechanics is that the property of any system can be in a state of superposition of various possibilities (or eigen states).This state of superposition is also known as wave function and it evolves linearly with time in a deterministic way in accordance with the Schrodinger equation.However, when a measurement is carried out on the system to determine the value of that property (say position), the system instantaneously transforms to one of the eigen states and thus we get only a single value as an outcome of the measurement.Quantum measurement problem seeks to find the cause and exact mechanism governing this transformation.In an attempt to solve the above problem, in this paper, we will first define what the wave function represents in real-world and will identify the root cause behind the stochastic nature of events.Then, we will develop a model to explain the mechanism of collapse of the quantum mechanical wave function in response to a measurement.In the process of development of model, we will explain Schrodinger cat paradox and will show how Born's rule for probability becomes a natural consequence of the measurement process.
In a number of experimental studies we explored the so‐called ‘radical subjective’, and rather controversial, solution of the measurement problem. This solution posits that an interaction with a conscious entity is required to complete the measurement. Thus the collapse of the wave packet is assumed to be causally linked to a conscious observation. Under the assumption that the brain is sensitive for the difference between observing a quantum (superposition) state and a classical state this radical solution can be tested. A radioactive source was used to trigger beeps that first were delayed for 1 second and then were observed by a (final) observer from whom a continuous recording of brain activity was made. In about 50% of the events, another (pre) observer got feedback of this quantum event before the final observer. In those cases, presumably the pre‐observer’s observation resulted in collapse of the wave‐packet while in the other half of the cases the final observer was ‘producing’ the collapse. The brain signals of the final observer for the two types of events were compared. The ambiguous results of the studies will be discussed. If consciousness is the crucial ingredient for ‘collapse’ to occur, then this might also give a new anthropocentric hypothesis with regard to the ‘arrow of time’. The projection postulate implies a irreversible process of reduction and hence can be seen as one of the few non time‐symmetric processes in physics. If consciousness is required to have a collapse then it might follow that consciousness introduces time asymmetry into physics. New neuro‐cognitive models of consciousness suggest that the neural correlate of conscious experience (rather than non conscious processing) is the occurrence of massive parallel recurrent (i.e. non linear) neural activation. Thus the collapse of the wave packet would become associated with a strong non‐linear process. This fits, at least in a metaphorical sense, with the theoretical results where an introduction on a non linear term in the Schr̈odinger equation results in an ‘objective’ reduction of the wave packet.