Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Wave Function Collapse and Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

Yuanxin Li

Published Dec 9, 2024• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In this paper, I use the spontaneous symmetry breaking mechanism as a supplement to the quantum decoherence theory to explain the wave function collapse after measurements. I show that the ergodicity breaking turns the mixed states into a certain eigenstate and thus we always measure just one particular outcome.
DOI
10.20944/preprints202409.2405.v4

Related papers

Quantum Measurement Problems, Decoherence, and Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

Yuanxin Li

In this paper, we propose a mechanism analogous to the spontaneous symmetry breaking combined with the quantum decoherence theory to explain the collapse of the wave function after the quantum measurement. We show that a wave function in a superposition of several eigenstates reduces to a single eigenstate due to the spontaneous-symmetry-breaking-like kinetic effect.

•Nov 28, 2024•0 citations

Quantum Measurement Problems, Decoherence, and Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

Yuanxin Li

In this paper, we propose a mechanism analogous to the spontaneous symmetry breaking combined with the quantum decoherence theory to explain the collapse of the wave function after the quantum measurement. We show that a wave function in a superposition of several eigenstates reduces to a single eigenstate due to the spontaneous-symmetry-breaking-like kinetic effect.

•Nov 13, 2024•0 citations

Decoherence, Quantum Measurement Problem, and Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

Yuanxin Li

In this paper, we propose a mechanism analogous to the spontaneous symmetry breaking to explain quantum measurement. It is actually a supplement to the decoherence theory. We introduce the effective potential between eigenstates and show that a wave function in a superposition of several eigenstates reduces to a single eigenstate due to the spontaneous-symmetry-breaking-like kinetic effect.

•Sep 30, 2024•0 citations

Decoding the Mystery of Wave Function Collapse

Ping Wang

We provide a reasonable explanation for measurement where no wave function in the sense of quantum mechanics is collapsed. The wave functions of the particles in the measuring device should be considered together with the measured particle as one system. The measurement is actually a physical process which makes the wave functions of different paths orthogonal. The collapsed wave function is just an equivalent one to explain certain physical phenomena. Our understanding of measurement also provides reasonable explanations for both EPR paradox and the experiments of delayed quantum eraser.

Advances in Theoretical & Computational Physics•Nov 18, 2024•0 citations

Modeling the Observation of a Quantum System as an Interaction

Satish Ramakrishna

The act of measurement on a quantum state is supposed to collapse the state into one of several eigenstates of the operator corresponding to the observable being measured. This measurement process is sometimes described as outside standard quantum-mechanical evolution and not calculable from Schr\odinger's equation. There are two general approaches to the study of wave-function collapse: one called the consistent or decoherent histories approach and the other, the environmental decoherence approach, which studies the effect of the environment upon the quantum system, to explain wave-function collapse. In the environmental decoherence approach, one usually studies a Markovian-approximated Master equation to study the time-evolution of reduced density matrix and obtains the long-term dependence of the off-diagonal elements of this matrix. We do not make a Markovian assumption and study a particularly simple and calculable example. We find, the short-time behavior of a collapsing system, at least the one considered in this paper, is not exponential, which is a new result (the long-term behavior is, of course, still exponential). This allows one to connect the Fermi-golden rule quadratic-in-time behavior of a transition probability to the exponential long-time behavior of a collapsing wave-function.

•Nov 16, 2019•0 citations

Collapse of the Wave Function

Dorje C. Brody, Lane P. Hughston

This is the first single volume about the collapse theories of quantum mechanics, which is becoming a very active field of research in both physics and philosophy. In standard quantum mechanics, it is postulated that when the wave function of a quantum system is measured, it no longer follows the Schrödinger equation, but instantaneously and randomly collapses to one of the wave functions that correspond to definite measurement results. However, why and how a definite measurement result appears is unknown. A promising solution to this problem are collapse theories in which the collapse of the wave function is spontaneous and dynamical. Chapters written by distinguished physicists and philosophers of physics discuss the origin and implications of wave-function collapse, the controversies around collapse models and their ontologies, and new arguments for the reality of wave function collapse. This is an invaluable resource for students and researchers interested in the philosophy of physics and foundations of quantum mechanics.

Cambridge University Press eBooks•Apr 20, 2018•12 citations
We provide a reasonable explanation for measurement where no wave function in the sense of quantum mechanics is collapsed. The wave functions of the particles in the measuring device should be considered together with the measured particle as one system. The measurement is actually a physical process which makes the wave functions of different paths orthogonal. The collapsed wave function is just an equivalent one to explain certain physical phenomena. Our understanding of measurement also provides reasonable explanations for both EPR paradox and the experiments of delayed quantum eraser.
The act of measurement on a quantum state is supposed to collapse the state into one of several eigenstates of the operator corresponding to the observable being measured. This measurement process is sometimes described as outside standard quantum-mechanical evolution and not calculable from Schr\odinger's equation. There are two general approaches to the study of wave-function collapse: one called the consistent or decoherent histories approach and the other, the environmental decoherence approach, which studies the effect of the environment upon the quantum system, to explain wave-function collapse. In the environmental decoherence approach, one usually studies a Markovian-approximated Master equation to study the time-evolution of reduced density matrix and obtains the long-term dependence of the off-diagonal elements of this matrix. We do not make a Markovian assumption and study a particularly simple and calculable example. We find, the short-time behavior of a collapsing system, at least the one considered in this paper, is not exponential, which is a new result (the long-term behavior is, of course, still exponential). This allows one to connect the Fermi-golden rule quadratic-in-time behavior of a transition probability to the exponential long-time behavior of a collapsing wave-function.
This is the first single volume about the collapse theories of quantum mechanics, which is becoming a very active field of research in both physics and philosophy. In standard quantum mechanics, it is postulated that when the wave function of a quantum system is measured, it no longer follows the Schrödinger equation, but instantaneously and randomly collapses to one of the wave functions that correspond to definite measurement results. However, why and how a definite measurement result appears is unknown. A promising solution to this problem are collapse theories in which the collapse of the wave function is spontaneous and dynamical. Chapters written by distinguished physicists and philosophers of physics discuss the origin and implications of wave-function collapse, the controversies around collapse models and their ontologies, and new arguments for the reality of wave function collapse. This is an invaluable resource for students and researchers interested in the philosophy of physics and foundations of quantum mechanics.