Completely top-down hierarchical structure in quantum mechanics

DOI10.1073/PNAS.1807554115zbMATH Open1416.81073arXiv1709.07052OpenAlexW2963251532WikidataQ57805472 ScholiaQ57805472MaRDI QIDQ5222819FDOQ5222819

Authors: Y. Aharonov, Eliahu Cohen, Jeff Tollaksen 

Publication date: 3 July 2019

Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Can a large system be fully characterized using its subsystems via inductive reasoning? Is it possible to completely reduce the behavior of a complex system to the behavior of its simplest "atoms"? In the following paper we answer these questions on the negative for a specific class of systems and measurements. We begin with simple two-particle example, where strong correlations arise between two apparently empty boxes. This leads to new surprising effects within atomic and electromagnetic systems. A general construction based on pre- and post-selected ensembles is then suggested, where the N-body correlation can be genuinely perceived as a global property, as long as one is limited to preforming a small set of measurements which we term "strictly local". We conclude that within time-symmetric quantum mechanics and under certain boundary conditions, high-order correlations can determine low-order ones, but not vice versa. Moreover, the latter seem to provide no information at all regarding the former. This supports a top-down structure in many-body quantum mechanics.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.07052

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Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Special quantum systems, such as solvable systems (81Q80)

Cited In (3)

• Time-symmetry and topology of the Aharonov–Bohm effect
• Quantum Cheshire cats and their elements of reality
• A relational time-symmetric framework for analyzing the quantum computational speedup

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