A recent paper by Hartle [Phys. Rev. D 51, 1800 (1995)] proposes a definition of ``spacetime information'' --- the information available about a quantum system's boundary conditions in the various sets of decohering histories it may display --- and investigates its properties. We note here that Hartle's analysis contains errors which invalidate several of the conclusions. In particular, the proof that the proposed definition agrees with the standard definition for ordinary quantum mechanics is invalid, the evaluations of the spacetime information for time-neutral generalized quantum theories and for generalized quantum theories with nonunitary evolution are incorrect, and the argument that spacetime information is conserved on spacelike surfaces in these last theories is erroneous. We show, however, that the proposed definition does, in fact, agree with the standard definition for ordinary quantum mechanics. Hartle's definition relies on choosing, case by case, a class of fine-grained consistent sets of histories. We supply a possible general definition of a class of sets that includes all the sets considered in Hartle's paper and that generalizes to other cases.
A recent paper by Hartle [Phys. Rev. D 51, 1800 (1995)] proposes a definition of ``spacetime information'' --- the information available about a quantum system's boundary conditions in the various sets of decohering histories it may display --- and investigates its properties. We note here that Hartle's analysis contains errors which invalidate several of the conclusions. In particular, the proof that the proposed definition agrees with the standard definition for ordinary quantum mechanics is invalid, the evaluations of the spacetime information for time-neutral generalized quantum theories and for generalized quantum theories with nonunitary evolution are incorrect, and the argument that spacetime information is conserved on spacelike surfaces in these last theories is erroneous. We show, however, that the proposed definition does, in fact, agree with the standard definition for ordinary quantum mechanics. Hartle's definition relies on choosing, case by case, a class of fine-grained consistent sets of histories. We supply a possible general definition of a class of sets that includes all the sets considered in Hartle's paper and that generalizes to other cases.
In usual quantum theory, the information available about a quantum system is defined in terms of the density matrix describing it on a spacelike surface. This definition must be generalized for extensions of quantum theory which neither require, nor always permit, a notion of state on a spacelike surface. In particular, it must be generalized for the generalized quantum theories appropriate when spacetime geometry fluctuates quantum mechanically or when geometry is fixed but not foliable by spacelike surfaces. This paper introduces a four-dimensional notion of the information available about a quantum system's boundary conditions in the various sets of decohering, coarse-grained histories it may display. This spacetime notion of information coincides with the familiar one when quantum theory is formulable in terms of states on spacelike surfaces but generalizes this notion when it cannot be so formulated. The idea of spacetime information is applied in several contexts: When spacetime geometry is fixed the information available through alternatives restricted to a fixed spacetime region is defined. The information available through histories of alternatives of general operators is compared to that obtained from the more limited coarse grainings of sum-over-histories quantum mechanics that refer only to coordinates. The definition of information is considered in generalized quantum theories. We consider as specific examples time-neutral quantum mechanics with initial and final conditions, quantum theories with nonunitary evolution, and the generalized quantum frameworks appropriate for quantum spacetime. In such theories complete information about a quantum system is not necessarily available on any spacelike surface but must be searched for throughout spacetime. The information loss commonly associated with the ``evolution of pure states into mixed states'' in black hole evaporation is thus not in conflict with the principles of generalized quantum mechanics.
These are the author's lectures at the 1992 Les Houches Summer School, "Gravitation and Quantizations". They develop a generalized sum-over-histories quantum mechanics for quantum cosmology that does not require either a preferred notion of time or a definition of measurement. The "post-Everett" quantum mechanics of closed systems is reviewed. Generalized quantum theories are defined by three elements (1) the set of fine-grained histories of the closed system which are its most refined possible description, (2) the allowed coarse grainings which are partitions of the fine-grained histories into classes, and (3) a decoherence functional which measures interference between coarse grained histories. Probabilities are assigned to sets of alternative coarse-grained histories that decohere as a consequence of the closed system's dynamics and initial condition. Generalized sum-over histories quantum theories are constructed for non-relativistic quantum mechanics, abelian gauge theories, a single relativistic world line, and for general relativity. For relativity the fine-grained histories are four-metrics and matter fields. Coarse grainings are four-dimensional diffeomorphism invariant partitions of these. The decoherence function is expressed in sum-over-histories form. The quantum mechanics of spacetime is thus expressed in fully spacetime form. The coarse-grainings are most general notion of alternative for quantum theory expressible in spacetime terms. Hamiltonian quantum mechanics of matter fields with its notion of unitarily evolving state on a spacelike surface is recovered as an approximation to this generalized quantum mechanics appropriate for those initial conditions and coarse-grainings such that spacetime geometry
Despite various parallels between quantum states and ordinary information, quantum no-go-theorems have convinced many that there is no realistic framework that might underly quantum theory, no reality that quantum states can represent knowledge about. This paper develops the case that there is a plausible underlying reality: one actual spacetime-based history, although with behavior that appears strange when analyzed dynamically (one time-slice at a time). By using a simple model with no dynamical laws, it becomes evident that this behavior is actually quite natural when analyzed “all-at-once” (as in classical action principles). From this perspective, traditional quantum states would represent incomplete information about possible spacetime histories, conditional on the future measurement geometry. Without dynamical laws imposing additional restrictions, those histories can have a classical probability distribution, where exactly one history can be said to represent an underlying reality.
I give an informal overview of the decoherent histories approach to quantum mechanics, due to Griffiths, to Omnès, and to Gell-Mann and Hartle is given. Results on the connections between decoherence, records, correlation and entropy are described. The emphasis of the presentation is on understanding the broader meaning of the conditions of consistency and decoherence, and in particular, the extent to which they permit one to assign definite properties to the system. The quantum Brownian motion model is briefly discussed. (To appear in proceedings of the workshop, "Stochastic Evolution of Quantum States in Open Systems and Measurement Processes", Budapest, March, 1993, edited by L.Diosi).
There are good motivations for considering some type of quantum histories formalism. Several possible formalisms are known, defined by different definitions of event and by different selection criteria for sets of histories. These formalisms have a natural interpretation, according to which nature somehow chooses one set of histories from among those allowed, and then randomly chooses to realise one history from that set; other interpretations are possible, but their scientific implications are essentially the same. The selection criteria proposed to date are reasonably natural, and certainly raise new questions. For example, the validity of ordering inferences which we normally take for granted – such as that a particle in one region is necessarily in a larger region containing it – depends on whether or not our history respects the criterion of ordered consistency, or merely consistency. However, the known selection criteria, including consistency and medium decoherence, are very weak. It is not possible to derive the predictions of classical mechanics or Copenhagen quantum mechanics from the theories they define, even given observational data in an extended time interval. Attempts to refine the consistent histories approach so as to solve this problem by finding a definition of quasiclassicality have so far not succeeded. On the other hand, it is shown that dynamical collapse models, of the type originally proposed by Ghirardi-Rimini-Weber, can be re-interpreted as set selection criteria within a quantum histories framework, in which context they appear as candidate solutions to the set selection problem. This suggests a new route to relativistic generalisation of these models, since covariant definitions of a quantum event are known.
Familiar textbook quantum mechanics assumes a fixed background spacetime to define states on spacelike surfaces and their unitary evolution between them. Quantum theory has changed as our conceptions of space and time have evolved. But quantum mechanics needs to be generalized further for quantum gravity where spacetime geometry is fluctuating and without definite value. This paper reviews a fully four-dimensional, sum-over-histories, generalized quantum mechanics of cosmological spacetime geometry. This generalization is constructed within the framework of generalized quantum theory. This is a minimal set of principles for quantum theory abstracted from the modern quantum mechanics of closed systems, most generally the universe. In this generalization, states of fields on spacelike surfaces and their unitary evolution are emergent properties appropriate when spacetime geometry behaves approximately classically. The principles of generalized quantum theory allow for the further generalization that would be necessary were spacetime not fundamental. Emergent spacetime phenomena are discussed in general and illustrated with the example of the classical spacetime geometries with large spacelike surfaces that emerge from the `no-boundary' wave function of the universe. These must be Lorentzian with one, and only one, time direction. The essay concludes by raising the question of whether quantum mechanics itself is emergent.