On the question of measurement in quantum mechanics

Alexey N. Rubtsov

Marcello Cini, Maurizio Serva

The absence of a general consensus among physicists about the old question of the measurement induced state vector collapse in quantum mechanics is, at first sight, puzzling. It is true, of course that the question cannot, at least as yet, be settled by submitting it to the final decision of experiment. Still, one would like to understand better the main issue of disagreement which leads to such a wide variety of possible solutions. We believe that the origin of this disagreement lies in a fundamental ambiguity which exists in our understanding of the relation between quantum mechanics (QM) and classical statistical mechanics (CSM). For this reason we will start by discussing at length this ambiguity, whose clarification is, in our opinion, preliminary to any attempt to find a solution of the question which is the central theme of our Colloquium. We will come back to this question, therefore, only in the final part of this talk.

Yin Shi-zhong

Generalized measurement is introduced by means of combination of measurement in daily life and Eigen Equation in mathematics with the purpose of understanding several basic questions in quantum mechanics.

Jeffrey Bub

J. M. Jauch

Ross Street

The underlying physics of quantum mechanics has been discussed for decades without an agreed resolution to many questions. The measurement problem, wave function collapse and entangled states are mired in complexity and the difficulty of even agreeing on a definition of a measurement. This paper explores a completely different aspect of quantum mechanics, the physical mechanism for phonon quantization, to gain insights into quantum mechanics that may help address the broader questions.