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arXiv:gr-qc/9304038

Comment on Consistent Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics Using Quantum Trajectories

Lajos Diósi

Published Apr 27, 1993• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Recently, Griffiths presented a generalization of the consistent history approach to quantum mechanics. I can easily construct all possible complete families satisfying Griffiths' "noninterference conditions". Since only trivial families exist one may conclude that Griffiths' proposal has not got farther than the ordinary theory of quantum measurement.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.gr-qc/9304038

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Recently, Griffiths presented a generalization of the consistent history approach to quantum mechanics. I can easily construct all possible complete families satisfying Griffiths' "noninterference conditions". Since only trivial families exist one may conclude that Griffiths' proposal has not got farther than the ordinary theory of quantum measurement.
The probabilistic element of quantum theory can be combined with the unitary time evolution of Schr\"odinger's equation in a natural and consistent way using the idea of a quantum trajectory, the quantum analog of the trajectory traced out in phase space as a function of time by a point representing the state of a closed classical system. A family of quantum trajectories can be defined using bases for the quantum Hilbert space at different times chosen so that an appropriate noninterference condition, related to the Gell-Mann and Hartle notion of medium decoherence, is satisfied. The result is a generalization of the consistent histories approach to quantum mechanics.
In a recent paper Griffiths claims that the consistent histories interpretation of quantum mechanics gives rise to results that contradict those obtained from the Bohm interpretation. This is in spite of the fact that both claim to provide a realist interpretation of the formalism without the need to add any new mathematical content and both always produce exactly the same probability predictions of the outcome of experiments. In constrasting the differences Griffiths argues that the consistent histories interpretation provides a more physically reasonable account of quantum phenomena. We examine this claim and show that the consistent histories approach is not without its difficulties.
Griffiths ’ “quantum trajectories ” formalism is extended to describe weak decoherence. The decoherence conditions are shown to severely limit the complexity of histories composed of fine-grained events. In response to the increasingly popular opinion that the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics raises more questions than it answers [7] and a desire to treat the entire universe quantum mechanically, Gell-Mann and Hartle [1, 2, 3] have worked to create an alternative interpretation of quantum theory, expanding upon earlier work by Griffiths [4] and Omnès [6]. Their scheme emphasizes not individual events but Griffiths ’ notion of a history, a sequence of events at a succession of times, and they assert that the
Some mostly recent theoretical and mathematical advances can be linked together to yield a new consistent interpretation of quantum mechanics. It relies upon a unique and universal interpretative rule of a logical character which is based upon Griffiths consistent historie. Some new results in semi-classical physics allow to derive classical physics from this rule, including its logical aspects, and to prove accordingly the existence of determinism within the quantum framework. Together with decoherence, this can be used to retrieve the existence of facts, despite the probabilistic character of the theory. Measurement theory can then be made entirely deductive. It is accordingly found that wave packet reduction is a logical property, whereas one can always choose to avoid using it. The practical consequences of this interpretation are most often in agreement with the Copenhagen formulation but they can be proved never to give rise to any logical inconsistency or paradox.
Within the last decade, significant progress has been made towards a consistent and complete reformulation of the Copenhagen interpretation (an interpretation consisting in a formulation of the experimental aspects of physics in terms of the basic formalism; it is consistent if free from internal contradiction and complete if it provides precise predictions for all experiments). The main steps involved decoherence (the transition from linear superpositions of macroscopic states to a mixing), Griffiths histories describing the evolution of quantum properties, a convenient logical structure for dealing with histories, and also some progress in semiclassical physics, which was made possible by new methods. The main outcome is a theory of phenomena, viz., the classically meaningful properties of a macroscopic system. It shows in particular how and when determinism is valid. This theory can be used to give a deductive form to measurement theory, which now covers some cases that were initially devised as counterexamples against the Copenhagen interpretation. These theories are described, together with their applications to some key experiments and some of their consequences concerning epistemology.