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Hugh Everett marginal notes on page from E. T. Jaynes' "Information Theory and Statistical Mechanics"

E. T. Jaynes

Published May 19, 2011• 0 citations
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Abstract

One of the most successful physicists of the generation immediately before Hugh Everett III, E. T. Jaynes shared both Everett's interest in applications of information theory to physics and his foundational orientation. But whereas Everett focused on quantum mechanics, much of Jaynes' work concerned how to use information theory in thermodynamics. This document is a single page from Jaynes' paper "Information Theory and Statistical Mechanics," Physical Review, 106, 620-630 (1957). Based on the basic content of his penciled observations, Everett wrote to Jaynes with an analysis of the flaws in Jaynes paper. He enclosed a copy of his own relative states preprint. Jaynes wrote back at great length.

Related papers

Hugh Everett letter to E. T. Jaynes, 11-June-1957

Hugh Everett

One of the most successful physicists of the generation immediately before Hugh Everett, E. T. Jaynes shared both Everett's interest in applications of information theory to physics and his foundational orientation. But whereas Everett focused on quantum mechanics, much of Jaynes' work concerned how to use information theory in thermodynamics. In this letter, Everett responds to a published paper of Jaynes', "Information Theory and Statistical Mechanics," Physical Review, 106, 620-630 (1957).

•May 19, 2011•0 citations

Hugh Everett handwritten draft letter to E.T. Jaynes, 15-May-1957

Hugh Everett

One of the most successful physicists of the generation immediately before Hugh Everett III, E. T. Jaynes shared both Everett's interest in applications of information theory to physics and his foundational orientation. But whereas Everett focused on quantum mechanics, much of Jaynes' work concerned how to use information theory in thermodynamics. Here Everett sketches an initial reaction to a published paper of Jaynes', "Information Theory and Statistical Mechanics," Physical Review, 106, 620-630 (1957). The date on the document corresponds to the date that Jaynes' article appeared in print, and not necessarily to the date on which the notes were written.

•May 19, 2011•0 citations

"III. Quantum Mechanics," handwritten draft, circa 1955

Everett, Hugh

Among Hugh Everett's files were a number of handwritten documents related to the writing of his thesis. Many of them were drafts of material that ultimately appeared in the long thesis. This single page, titled "III Quantum Mechanics" by Everett, was found in a file labeled "Early drafts".

•Jan 1, 1955•0 citations

The Quantum Mechanics of Minds and Worlds

Jeffrey Alan Barrett

Abstract This book presents the most comprehensive study yet of a problem that has puzzled physicists and philosophers since the 1930s. The standard theory of quantum mechanics is in one sense the most successful physical theory ever, predicting the behaviour of the basic constituents of all physical things; no other theory has ever made such accurate empirical predictions. However, if one tries to understand the theory as providing a complete and accurate framework for the description of the behaviour of all physical interactions, it becomes evident that the theory is ambiguous, or even logically inconsistent. The most notable attempt to formulate the theory so as to deal with this problem, the quantum measurement problem, was initiated by Hugh Everett III in the 1950s. This book gives a careful and challenging examination and evaluation of the work of Everett and those who have followed him. The informal approach, minimizing technicality, makes the book accessible and illuminating for philosophers and physicists alike.

•Aug 16, 2001•82 citations

The Quantum Mechanics of Minds and Worlds

Jeffrey Alan Barrett

This book presents the most comprehensive study yet of a problem that has puzzled physicists and philosophers since the 1930s. The standard theory of quantum mechanics is in one sense the most successful physical theory ever, predicting the behaviour of the basic constituents of all physical things; no other theory has ever made such accurate empirical predictions. However, if one tries to understand the theory as providing a complete and accurate framework for the description of the behaviour of all physical interactions, it becomes evident that the theory is ambiguous, or even logically inconsistent. The most notable attempt to formulate the theory so as to deal with this problem, the quantum measurement problem, was initiated by Hugh Everett III in the 1950s. This book gives a careful and challenging examination and evaluation of the work of Everett and those who have followed him. The informal approach, minimizing technicality, makes the book accessible and illuminating for philosophers and physicists alike.

•Jan 1, 2001•0 citations

"Quantitative measure of correlation," minipaper, 1955

Hugh Everett

Before writing a first draft of the long thesis, Hugh Everett wrote three short papers, often refered to as his minipapers, for John Wheeler to review. This minipaper, called "Quantitative measure of correlation," lays some groundwork for the application of information theory as a measure of the degree of quantum correlation or entanglement. From very early in the project, Everett thought that Shannon information theory would provide insight into pure wave mechanics. While statistical measures, such as standard deviation, would have sufficed, Everett developed information-theoretic measures to represent such things as the width of distributions and the degree of correlation between the states of multiple systems. He thought that the standard quantum uncertainty relations were best expressed in an information theoretic way. The present document is the typed version of the minipaper that Wheeler would have seen and commented on.

•May 20, 2011•0 citations
One of the most successful physicists of the generation immediately before Hugh Everett III, E. T. Jaynes shared both Everett's interest in applications of information theory to physics and his foundational orientation. But whereas Everett focused on quantum mechanics, much of Jaynes' work concerned how to use information theory in thermodynamics. This document is a single page from Jaynes' paper "Information Theory and Statistical Mechanics," Physical Review, 106, 620-630 (1957). Based on the basic content of his penciled observations, Everett wrote to Jaynes with an analysis of the flaws in Jaynes paper. He enclosed a copy of his own relative states preprint. Jaynes wrote back at great length.
One of the most successful physicists of the generation immediately before Hugh Everett, E. T. Jaynes shared both Everett's interest in applications of information theory to physics and his foundational orientation. But whereas Everett focused on quantum mechanics, much of Jaynes' work concerned how to use information theory in thermodynamics. In this letter, Everett responds to a published paper of Jaynes', "Information Theory and Statistical Mechanics," Physical Review, 106, 620-630 (1957).
One of the most successful physicists of the generation immediately before Hugh Everett III, E. T. Jaynes shared both Everett's interest in applications of information theory to physics and his foundational orientation. But whereas Everett focused on quantum mechanics, much of Jaynes' work concerned how to use information theory in thermodynamics. Here Everett sketches an initial reaction to a published paper of Jaynes', "Information Theory and Statistical Mechanics," Physical Review, 106, 620-630 (1957). The date on the document corresponds to the date that Jaynes' article appeared in print, and not necessarily to the date on which the notes were written.
Abstract This book presents the most comprehensive study yet of a problem that has puzzled physicists and philosophers since the 1930s. The standard theory of quantum mechanics is in one sense the most successful physical theory ever, predicting the behaviour of the basic constituents of all physical things; no other theory has ever made such accurate empirical predictions. However, if one tries to understand the theory as providing a complete and accurate framework for the description of the behaviour of all physical interactions, it becomes evident that the theory is ambiguous, or even logically inconsistent. The most notable attempt to formulate the theory so as to deal with this problem, the quantum measurement problem, was initiated by Hugh Everett III in the 1950s. This book gives a careful and challenging examination and evaluation of the work of Everett and those who have followed him. The informal approach, minimizing technicality, makes the book accessible and illuminating for philosophers and physicists alike.
This book presents the most comprehensive study yet of a problem that has puzzled physicists and philosophers since the 1930s. The standard theory of quantum mechanics is in one sense the most successful physical theory ever, predicting the behaviour of the basic constituents of all physical things; no other theory has ever made such accurate empirical predictions. However, if one tries to understand the theory as providing a complete and accurate framework for the description of the behaviour of all physical interactions, it becomes evident that the theory is ambiguous, or even logically inconsistent. The most notable attempt to formulate the theory so as to deal with this problem, the quantum measurement problem, was initiated by Hugh Everett III in the 1950s. This book gives a careful and challenging examination and evaluation of the work of Everett and those who have followed him. The informal approach, minimizing technicality, makes the book accessible and illuminating for philosophers and physicists alike.
Before writing a first draft of the long thesis, Hugh Everett wrote three short papers, often refered to as his minipapers, for John Wheeler to review. This minipaper, called "Quantitative measure of correlation," lays some groundwork for the application of information theory as a measure of the degree of quantum correlation or entanglement. From very early in the project, Everett thought that Shannon information theory would provide insight into pure wave mechanics. While statistical measures, such as standard deviation, would have sufficed, Everett developed information-theoretic measures to represent such things as the width of distributions and the degree of correlation between the states of multiple systems. He thought that the standard quantum uncertainty relations were best expressed in an information theoretic way. The present document is the typed version of the minipaper that Wheeler would have seen and commented on.