Quantum oblivion: A master key for many quantum riddles

DOI10.1142/S0219749915600242MaRDI QIDQ5247057zbMATH OpenWikidataFDO

Authors Avshalom C. Elitzur, Eliahu Cohen

Publication date 22 April 2015

Published in International Journal of Quantum Information (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1411.2278

zbMATH Keywords

AB effectIFMnon-localityquantum measurementquantum oblivionquantum Zeno effect

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

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

Abstract: A simple quantum interaction is analyzed, where the paths of two superposed particles asymmetrically cross, while a detector set to detect an interaction between them remains silent. Despite this negative result, the particles' states leave no doubt that a peculiar interaction has occurred: One particle's momentum changes while the other's remains unaffected, in apparent violation of momentum conservation. Revisiting the foundations of the quantum measurement process offers the resolution. Prior to the macroscopic recording of no interaction, a brief Critical Interval prevails, during which the particles and the detector's pointer form a subtle entanglement which immediately dissolves. It is this self-cancellation, henceforth "Quantum Oblivion (QO)," that lies at the basis of some well-known intriguing quantum effects. Such is Interaction-Free Measurement (IFM) [1] and its more paradoxical variants, like Hardy's Paradox [2] and the Quantum Liar Paradox [3]. Even the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect [4] and weak measurement [5] turn out to belong to this group. We next study interventions within the Critical Interval that produce some other peculiar effects. Finally we discuss some of the conceptual issues involved. Under the time-resolution of the Critical Interval, some nonlocal phenomena turn out to be local. Momentum is conserved due to the quantum uncertainties inflicted by the particle-pointer interaction, which sets the experiment's final boundary condition.

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Cites work

• Are all quantum measurements reducible to local position measurements?
• Introduction to weak measurements and weak values
• Quantum mechanics, local realistic theories, and Lorentz-invariant realistic theories
• Revisiting Hardy's paradox: Counterfactual statements, real measurements, entanglement and weak values
• Significance of Electromagnetic Potentials in the Quantum Theory

Cited in

(4)

• Interaction-free effects between distant atoms
• Escape from the quantum pigeon conundrum
• A relational time-symmetric framework for analyzing the quantum computational speedup
• Time-symmetry and topology of the Aharonov–Bohm effect

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