Collapse of the Wavefunction as an Interference Effect

James C. Camparo

Published Jan 20, 2023• 0 citations

Abstract

Abstract Measurement in quantum mechanics is a long-standing issue, and the measurement problem (as it is known) consists of essentially two parts: 1) no matter what the initial wavefunction of an object, the result of a measurement always results in the observation of a single eigenstate (i.e., “wavefunction collapse”), and 2) once the wavefunction collapses it remains collapsed. Though there have been a number of proposed solutions to the measurement problem, none to date is without debate. Here we propose an additional solution to the measurement problem, in the hope that alternate perspectives on this problem could eventually lead to its final resolution. We assume that for every eigenvector of an operator there is a set of discrete phases, and that the phase sets among eigenvectors are disjoint. With this hypothesis it is possible to show that wavefunction collapse is a consequence of destructive interference between a measurement mapping-operator, exhibiting all of the potential eigenvector phases, and the particular phase of a single realization of the quantum object.

DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2493421/v1

Related papers

Collapse of the Wavefunction Following Destructive Interference with a Macroscopic Measuring Device

James C. Camparo

Abstract Measurement in quantum mechanics is a long-standing issue, and the measurement problem consists of essentially two parts: 1) no matter what the initial wavefunction of an object, the result of a measurement always results in the observation of a single eigenstate (i.e., “wavefunction collapse”), and 2) once the wavefunction collapses it remains collapsed. Though there have been a number of proposed solutions to the measurement problem, none to date is without debate. Here we discuss a solution to the measurement problem that avoids some others’ difficulties. We assume that for every eigenvector of an operator there is a set of unique discrete phases, and that the phase sets among eigenvectors are disjoint. With this hypothesis it is possible to show that wavefunction collapse is a consequence of destructive interference when a quantum object interacts with the large set of “quantum-measurement mapping operators” that must comprise a classical measuring device .

Apr 6, 20230 citations

Destructive Interference as a Path to Resolving the Quantum Measurement Problem

James C. Camparo

Over the past several decades, there has been an accelerating trend to ever more accurate quantum sensors: sensors of time intervals (i.e., atomic clocks), sensors of magnetic fields (i.e., quantum magnetometers), and sensors of inertial motions (i.e., atom interferometers), to name just a few. With this trend has come a renewed interest in the problem of quantum mechanical measurement (i.e., collapse of the wavefunction), and though there have been many attempts to resolve the problem, there is still no wholly accepted resolution. Here, we discuss a little-explored path for resolving the issue that exploits wavefunction phase. To illustrate this path’s potential, we consider the notion of “eigenphase” sets that are disjoint among orthogonal eigenvectors. Wavefunction collapse then occurs because of constructive/destructive interference when a classical measuring device “phase-locks” to an incoming wavefunction. While the present work examines one method for exploiting wavefunction phase, its primary purpose is to more generally re-focus attention on wavefunction phase as a means for resolving the measurement problem that avoids many other solutions’ problematic aspects.

Quantum ReportsOct 10, 20250 citations

On the Wavefunction Collapse

Ovidiu Cristinel Stoica

Wavefunction collapse is usually seen as a discontinuous violation of the unitary evolution of a quantum system, caused by the observation. Moreover, the collapse appears to be nonlocal in a sense which seems at odds with general relativity. In this article the possibility that the wavefunction evolves continuously and hopefully unitarily during the measurement process is analyzed. It is argued that such a solution has to be formulated using a time symmetric replacement of the initial value problem in quantum mechanics. Major difficulties in apparent conflict with unitary evolution are identified, but eventually its possibility is not completely ruled out. This interpretation is in a weakened sense both local and realistic, without contradicting Bell's theorem. Moreover, if it is true, it makes general relativity consistent with quantum mechanics in the semiclassical framework. Quanta 2016; 5: 19–33.

arXiv:1601.02598QuantaJan 10, 201625 citations

The Measurement Problem, A Thermodynamic Resolution

Beckford, Woodrow

The quantum measurement problem persists because quantum mechanics provides no physical criterion for when a measurement occurs or why outcome selection is irreversible. We propose a resolution based on a single principle: a measurement occurs precisely when entropy irreversibly flows from a quantum system into its environment, producing distinguishable environmental states and eliminating interference. Within this framework, wavefunction “collapse” is not an additional axiom but a physical consequence of thermodynamic irreversibility.

Jan 1, 20250 citations

Why Quantum Collapse May Not Be Fundamental

Atsushi Okamoto

Wave function collapse has long been regarded as a fundamental element of the quantum measurement process, providing a mechanism by which a superposed quantum state yields a single observed outcome. Despite its widespread use, the physical meaning of collapse remains conceptually controversial. In particular, it is often assumed that the quantities associated with a quantum state before measurement and the values obtained after measurement belong to the same conceptual category. This assumption leads naturally to the image of a discontinuous transition in which one value is selected from a superposition of possibilities. In the present work, we reexamine the concept of quantum collapse from the perspective of observability. We argue that pre-measurement quantities do not constitute observable values in the ordinary operational sense. Rather, they represent a structure of potential observability associated with possible measurement outcomes. By contrast, post-measurement outcomes correspond to operationally realized observability, in which a specific result becomes accessible through measurement. From this viewpoint, the apparent collapse does not represent a physical jump of an already existing value, but a transition from potential observability to operationally realized observability. Based on this distinction, we propose that many conceptual difficulties traditionally associated with wave function collapse arise from treating these two fundamentally different forms of observability as if they were physically equivalent. The apparent discontinuity of collapse may therefore originate not from a discontinuous change in reality itself, but from a conceptual conflation of potential observability and operationally realized observability. Within the Intrinsic Observability Framework (IOF), this interpretation naturally leads to the concept of accessibility transition, in which the emergence of a definite outcome is understood as a change in accessible structure rather than as a fundamental non-unitary state reduction. The present analysis suggests that wave function collapse may not be a fundamental physical phenomenon, but instead a consequence of the transition from potential observability to operationally realized observability. This perspective provides a conceptual reorganization of the measurement problem and clarifies the role of observability in the emergence of definite quantum outcomes.

Jul 11, 20260 citations

On Wave Function Collapse in Quantum Mechanics in the Case of a Spin System Having Three Anticommuting Operators: the Reason Because it is so Difficult to Realize a Theory of Collapse in Quantum Mechanics

Elio Conte

We use a two states quantum spin system S, and thus considering the particular case of three anticommuting elements and the measurement of . We evidence that, during the wave collapse, we have a transition of standard commutation relation of the spin to new commutation relations and this occurs during the interaction of the S system with the macroscopic measurement system M. The reason to accept such view point is that it causes the destruction of the interferential factors and of the fermion creation and annihilation operators of the S system without recourse to further elaborations based on the use of Hamiltonians or other methods. By this formulation we propose a new method in attempting to solve the problem of wave function collapse. The concept of Observable , in use in standard quantum mechanics, is resolved in an abstract entity to which is connected a linear hermitean operator that signs mathematically the operation that we must perform on the wave function in order to obtain the potential and possible values of the observable. It does not commute with a number of other operators characterizing the system and the non commuting rules have a fundamental role in quantum mechanics .They have a logic that must be analyzed in each phase of the non measuring and the measuring processes. When we consider the dynamics of wave function collapse we must account that the observed observable becomes a number ,with proper unity of measurements ,during the measurement, thus the linear hermitean operator to which is connected before the measurement, disappears and in its place it appears a new operator that maintain the non commutativity with the other operators to which the old and disappeared operator was connected.

Jul 1, 20190 citations