Insolubility of the quantum measurement problem for unsharp observables

DOI10.1016/S1355-2198(96)00012-3zbMATH Open1222.81106arXivquant-ph/9604013MaRDI QIDQ639775FDOQ639775

P. Busch, Abner Shimony

Publication date: 11 October 2011

Published in: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. Part B. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: The quantum mechanical measurement problem is the difficulty of dealing with the indefiniteness of the pointer observable at the conclusion of a measurement process governed by unitary quantum dynamics. There has been hope to solve this problem by eliminating idealizations from the characterization of measurement. We state and prove two `insolubility theorems' that disappoint this hope. In both the initial state of the apparatus is taken to be mixed rather than pure, and the correlation of the object observable and the pointer observable is allowed to be imperfect. In the {it insolubility theorem for sharp observables}, which is only a modest extension of previous results, the object observable is taken to be an arbitrary projection valued measure. In the {it insolubility theorem for unsharp observables}, which is essentially new, the object observable is taken to be a positive operator v alued measure. Both theorems show that the measurement problem is not the consequence of neglecting the ever-present imperfections of actual measurements.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9604013

Recommendations

• Can ``unsharp objectification solve the quantum measurement problem?
• Insolubility of the quantum measurement problem
• The problem of measurement in quantum physics: An evaluation of the extant proofs of insolubility
• Insolubility from no-signalling
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1748607

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Quantum measurement theory, state operations, state preparations (81P15) Logical foundations of quantum mechanics; quantum logic (quantum-theoretic aspects) (81P10)

Cites Work

• Operational Quantum Physics
• Can ``unsharp objectification solve the quantum measurement problem?
• Insolubility of the Quantum Measurement Problem
• The Problem of Measurement

Cited In (27)

• Limiting distribution of periodic position measurements of a quantum harmonic oscillator
• Six measurement problems of quantum mechanics
• The quantum measurement problem enhanced
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• The problem of measurement in quantum physics: An evaluation of the extant proofs of insolubility
• Intrinsic unsharpness and approximate repeatability of quantum measurements
• Quantum locality
• Embedding quantum mechanics into a broader noncontextual theory: a conciliatory result
• Undecidable classical properties of observers
• Embedding quantum mechanics into a broader noncontextual theory
• Reversibility and regularity
• Measurement and fundamental processes in quantum mechanics
• A Hilbert space representation of generalized observables and measurement processes in the ESR model
• The collapse problem as a consistency problem. Is the quantum measurement hypothesis consistent with conservation laws?
• Manifesting the quantum world
• Can ``unsharp objectification solve the quantum measurement problem?
• Undecidability and the problem of outcomes in quantum measurements
• Unsharp quantum reality
• Insolubility theorems and EPR argument
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Proper versus improper mixtures: toward a quaternionic quantum mechanics
• The quantum harmonic oscillator in the ESR model
• Generalized observables, Bell's inequalities and mixtures in the ESR model for QM
• Finite local models for the GHZ experiment
• Physical propositions and quantum languages
• The physical interpretation of partial traces: two nonstandard views
• Title not available (Why is that?)

This page was built for publication: Insolubility of the quantum measurement problem for unsharp observables

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q639775)