Can one detect whether a wave function has collapsed?

DOI10.1088/1751-8113/47/19/195303MaRDI QIDQ5419304zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors Charles Wesley Cowan, Roderich Tumulka

Publication date 6 June 2014

Published in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1307.0810

zbMATH Keywords

absolute uncertaintycollapse of the wave functionempirically undeciablefoundations of quantum mechanicsGhirardi-Rimini-Weber (GRW) theorylimitations to knowledgequantum measurements

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

General and philosophical questions in quantum theory (81P05) Quantum measurement theory, state operations, state preparations (81P15)

Abstract: Consider a quantum system prepared in state $psi$, a unit vector in a $d$-dimensional Hilbert space. Let $b_1,\mathrm{...},b_d$ be an orthonormal basis and suppose that, with some probability $0<p<1$, $psi$ ``collapses, i.e., gets replaced by $b_k$ (possibly times a phase factor) with Born's probability $|langle{b}_k|psiangle{|}^2$. The question we investigate is: How well can any quantum experiment on the system determine afterwards whether a collapse has occurred? The answer depends on how much is known about the initial vector $psi$. We provide a number of different results addressing several variants of the question. In each case, no experiment can provide more than rather limited probabilistic information. In case $psi$ is drawn randomly with uniform distribution over the unit sphere in Hilbert space, no experiment performs better than a blind guess without measurement; that is, no experiment provides any useful information.

Recommendations

• Detecting wave function collapse without prior knowledge
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1163215
• What is wave-function collapse by measurement?
• The universe remembers no wavefunction collapse
• Some reflections upon the reduction postulate in the light of today's technology

Cited in

(6)

• What is wave-function collapse by measurement?
• The universe remembers no wavefunction collapse
• Wavefunction collapse through backaction of counting weakly interacting photons
• Detecting wave function collapse without prior knowledge
• Some reflections upon the reduction postulate in the light of today's technology
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 5172416 (Why is no real title available?)

This page was built for publication: Can one detect whether a wave function has collapsed?

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q5419304)