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General Relativity and Gravitation

The Density-Matrix Method for the Preferred Basis in the Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Cosmology

Andrei Olegovich Barvinsky, A. Yu. Kamenschik, V. N. Ponomariov

Published Jul 1, 1989• 0 citations
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It is emphasized that a many-worlds interpretation of quantum theory exists only to the extent that the associated basis problem is solved. The core basis problem is that the robust enduring states specified by environmental decoherence effects are essentially Gaussian wave packets that form continua of non-orthogonal states. Hence they are not a discrete set of orthogonal basis states to which finite probabilities can be assigned by the usual rules. The natural way to get an orthogonal basis without going outside the Schroedinger dynamics is to use the eigenstates of the reduced density matrix, and this idea is the basis of some recent attempts by many-worlds proponents to solve the basis problem. But these eigenstates do not enjoy the locality and quasi-classicality properties of the states defined by environmental decoherence effects, and hence are not satisfactory preferred basis states. This core problem is obscured by approaches that treat the universe as a quantum computer, but it needs to be addressed and resolved before a many-worlds-type interpretation can be said to exist.

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A general framework for cosmological quantum theory

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Reports on Mathematical Physics•Jun 1, 1978•1 citation
The authors revive an old proposal of Zeh (1986) for the preferred basis in the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. The algorithm for this basis reduces to the eigenvalue problems for density matrices of subsystems splitting the quantum system into the observer and the observable counterpart. A semiclassical calculational method for these eigenvalue problems is developed and the dynamical properties of the preferred basis are investigated. Applications of this proposal to quantum cosmology are discussed.
We revive an old proposal of Zeh for the preferred basis in the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. The algorithm for the basis reduces to the eigenvalue problems for density matrices of subsystems forming the whole system under consideration. We generalize this procedure to the case of degenerate eigenvalues of reduced density matrices. A semiclassical calculational method for these eigenvalues is developed and applied to some model problems. The classical properties of elements of the preferred basis are investigated. It is shown that classicality exists only in some part of many-worlds branches. Moreover, it depends crucially on the initial conditions and Hamiltonians and under some circumstances turns out to be a temporary phenomenon. Applications of the preferred-basis proposal to quantum cosmology are discussed. The relation between the preferred-basis approach and quantum-histories approach is discussed.
It is emphasized that a many-worlds interpretation of quantum theory exists only to the extent that the associated basis problem is solved. The core basis problem is that the robust enduring states specified by environmental decoherence effects are essentially Gaussian wave packets that form continua of non-orthogonal states. Hence they are not a discrete set of orthogonal basis states to which finite probabilities can be assigned by the usual rules. The natural way to get an orthogonal basis without going outside the Schroedinger dynamics is to use the eigenstates of the reduced density matrix, and this idea is the basis of some recent attempts by many-worlds proponents to solve the basis problem. But these eigenstates do not enjoy the locality and quasi-classicality properties of the states defined by environmental decoherence effects, and hence are not satisfactory preferred basis states. This core problem is obscured by approaches that treat the universe as a quantum computer, but it needs to be addressed and resolved before a many-worlds-type interpretation can be said to exist.