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Springer eBooks

Decoherence and the Existential Interpretation of Quantum Theory, or ”No Information Without Representation”

Wojciech Hubert Zurek

Published Jan 1, 1994• 8 citations
Publisher
DOI
10.1007/978-94-011-1068-6_23

Related papers

Quantum Darwinism and the Existential Interpretation

Wojciech Hubert Zurek

There are two widely known interpretations of quantum theory: Bohr’s Copenhagen interpretation and Everett’s interpretation. The focus of Chapter 9 is to assess, within the context they provide, the interpretation-independent advances discussed in this book. We want to see whether the advances that include decoherence and quantum Darwinism fit these two established and widely known points of view. In fact, it is surprising that (with minor but significant adjustments) decoherence and quantum Darwinism fit very naturally, addressing questions that were recognized as open and important. We then discuss the existential interpretation. It can be seen as a continuation of the Copenhagen interpretation, with the Universe consisting of quantum and classical realms, but with classicality that is emergent, rather than preordained. It is also compatible with Everett’s interpretation, since quantum states and evolutions are all that is needed. However, unlike the Many Worlds interpretation (which regards the quantum state of the Universe as objectively existing, akin to a classical point in phase space or a classical electromagnetic field), the existential interpretation recognizes that quantum states combine information and existence—they are epiontic. The mix of existence and information they represent fits the relative states reading of Everett’s approach.

Cambridge University Press eBooks•Mar 6, 2025•0 citations

Decoherence and the Appearance of a Classical World in Quantum Theory

Domenico Giulini, Erich Joos, Claus Kiefer +3 more

Springer eBooks•Jan 1, 1996•1,089 citations

Decoherence and the Appearance of a Classical World in Quantum Theory

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Decoherence, chaos, the quantum and the classical

Wojciech Hubert Zurek, Juan Pablo Paz

The key ideas of the environment-induced decoherence approach are reviewed. Application of decoherence to the transition from quantum to classical in open quantum systems with chaotic classical analogs is described. The arrow of time is, in this context, a result of the information loss to the correlations with the environment. The asymptotic rate of entropy production (which is reached quickly, on the dynamical timescale) is independent of the details of the coupling of the quantum system to the environment, and is set by the Lyapunov exponents. We also briefly outline the existential interpretation of quantum mechanics, justifying the slogan ``No information without representation.``

•Jan 1, 1994•4 citations

Preferred States, Predictability, Classicality and the Environment-Induced Decoherence

Wojciech Hubert Zurek

Selection of the preferred classical set of states in the process of decoherence is discussed with an emphasis on the role of correlations, information loss and entropy. Persistence of correlations between the observables of two systems (for instance, a record and a state of a system evolved from the initial conditions described by that record) in the presence of the environment is used to define classical behavior. From the viewpoint of an observer (or any system capable of maintaining records and utilising information) predictability is a measure of such persistence. \texitPredictability sieve – a procedure which employs both the statistical and algorithmic entropies to systematically explore all of the Hilbert space of an open system in order to eliminate the majority of the unpredictable and non-classical states, and to locate the islands of predictability including the preferred pointer basis, is proposed. The relation between the consistent histories approach and the preferred sets of states is considered. It is demonstrated that histories of sequences of events corresponding to projections onto the states of the pointer basis are consistent. The correspondence between the perceived reality and the evolving state of the quantum Universe based on a prolonged existence of states of individual systems and correlations between them is proposed. This emphasis on predictable existence of states of classical systems and records of classical observers suggests existential interpretation of quantum theory. Existential interpretation addresses the long-standing problem of the “collapse of the wave function” in a manner which goes beyond Everett's relative state and Bohr's Copenhagen interpretations, by identifying the collapse with the decay of non-classical superpositions of states (and of the observers records) into mixtures of preferred states chosen by the environment-induced superselection.

Progress of Theoretical Physics•Feb 1, 1993•525 citations

Decoherence and the Appearance of a Classical World in Quantum Theory

Armin Uhlmann

Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie•Jan 1, 1998•4 citations
There are two widely known interpretations of quantum theory: Bohr’s Copenhagen interpretation and Everett’s interpretation. The focus of Chapter 9 is to assess, within the context they provide, the interpretation-independent advances discussed in this book. We want to see whether the advances that include decoherence and quantum Darwinism fit these two established and widely known points of view. In fact, it is surprising that (with minor but significant adjustments) decoherence and quantum Darwinism fit very naturally, addressing questions that were recognized as open and important. We then discuss the existential interpretation. It can be seen as a continuation of the Copenhagen interpretation, with the Universe consisting of quantum and classical realms, but with classicality that is emergent, rather than preordained. It is also compatible with Everett’s interpretation, since quantum states and evolutions are all that is needed. However, unlike the Many Worlds interpretation (which regards the quantum state of the Universe as objectively existing, akin to a classical point in phase space or a classical electromagnetic field), the existential interpretation recognizes that quantum states combine information and existence—they are epiontic. The mix of existence and information they represent fits the relative states reading of Everett’s approach.
The key ideas of the environment-induced decoherence approach are reviewed. Application of decoherence to the transition from quantum to classical in open quantum systems with chaotic classical analogs is described. The arrow of time is, in this context, a result of the information loss to the correlations with the environment. The asymptotic rate of entropy production (which is reached quickly, on the dynamical timescale) is independent of the details of the coupling of the quantum system to the environment, and is set by the Lyapunov exponents. We also briefly outline the existential interpretation of quantum mechanics, justifying the slogan ``No information without representation.``
Selection of the preferred classical set of states in the process of decoherence is discussed with an emphasis on the role of correlations, information loss and entropy. Persistence of correlations between the observables of two systems (for instance, a record and a state of a system evolved from the initial conditions described by that record) in the presence of the environment is used to define classical behavior. From the viewpoint of an observer (or any system capable of maintaining records and utilising information) predictability is a measure of such persistence. \texitPredictability sieve – a procedure which employs both the statistical and algorithmic entropies to systematically explore all of the Hilbert space of an open system in order to eliminate the majority of the unpredictable and non-classical states, and to locate the islands of predictability including the preferred pointer basis, is proposed. The relation between the consistent histories approach and the preferred sets of states is considered. It is demonstrated that histories of sequences of events corresponding to projections onto the states of the pointer basis are consistent. The correspondence between the perceived reality and the evolving state of the quantum Universe based on a prolonged existence of states of individual systems and correlations between them is proposed. This emphasis on predictable existence of states of classical systems and records of classical observers suggests existential interpretation of quantum theory. Existential interpretation addresses the long-standing problem of the “collapse of the wave function” in a manner which goes beyond Everett's relative state and Bohr's Copenhagen interpretations, by identifying the collapse with the decay of non-classical superpositions of states (and of the observers records) into mixtures of preferred states chosen by the environment-induced superselection.