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Coherent Quantum Physics PDF

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ArnoldNeumaier CoherentQuantumPhysics Texts and Monographs in Theoretical Physics | Edited by Michael Efroimsky, Bethesda, Maryland, USA Leonard Gamberg, Reading, Pennsylvania, USA Arnold Neumaier Coherent Quantum Physics | A Reinterpretation of the Tradition MathematicsSubjectClassification2010 Primary:81P15,81R30,46E22;Secondary:17B81,81T99 Author Prof.Dr.ArnoldNeumaier UniversitätWien FakultåtfürMathematik Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz1 1090Wien Austria [email protected] ISBN978-3-11-066729-5 e-ISBN(PDF)978-3-11-066738-7 e-ISBN(EPUB)978-3-11-066736-3 ISSN2627-3934 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2019947573 BibliographicinformationpublishedbytheDeutscheNationalbibliothek TheDeutscheNationalbibliothekliststhispublicationintheDeutscheNationalbibliografie; detailedbibliographicdataareavailableontheInternetathttp://dnb.dnb.de. ©2019WalterdeGruyterGmbH,Berlin/Boston Coverimage:GuyNHarris/iStock/GettyImagesPlus Typesetting:VTeXUAB,Lithuania Printingandbinding:CPIbooksGmbH,Leck www.degruyter.com | ToMaria, inhonoroftheCreatorofourmagnificentuniverse Download Date | 10/31/19 1:08 PM Preface Inastatisticaldescriptionofnatureonlyexpectationvaluesorcorrelationsareobservable. ChristofWetterich,1997[299,p.2678] One is almost tempted to assert that the usual interpretation in terms of sharp eigenvalues is ‘wrong’,becauseitcannotbeconsistentlymaintained,whiletheinterpretationintermsofexpec- tationvaluesis‘right’,becauseitcanbeconsistentlymaintained. JohnKlauder,1997[160,p.6] Whathasbecomeknownasthequantummeasurementproblem[…]encapsulatesmanyofthefun- damentalconceptualdifficultiesthathavetothisdatepreventedusfromarrivingatacommonly agreed-uponunderstandingofthephysicalmeaningoftheformalismofquantummechanicsand ofhowthisformalismrelatestotheperceivedworldaroundus. MaximilianSchlosshauer,2007[265,p.VIII] Thisbookintroducesmathematicians,physicists,andphilosopherstoanew,coher- ent approach to theory and interpretation of quantum physics (including quantum mechanics,quantumstatisticalmechanics,quantumfieldtheory,andtheirapplica- tions),inwhichclassicalandquantumthinkinglivepeacefullysidebysideandjointly fertilizetheintuition. An interpretation of quantum mechanics relates its formalism to the actual in- formalpracticeofusingquantummechanicsinourscientificculture.Animpeccable interpretationmustshowthatthereisafullyconsistentrelationbetweentheoryand practice.Theinterpretationmayuseconceptsfamiliarfromourculturetoexplainthe workingofquantumphysicsinpracticetoeveryone’ssatisfaction. Whataretheshortcomingsofthecurrentapproaches?Theminimalstatistical interpretationpredictsthestatisticsofoutcomesofexperiments.Itissilentaboutthe interpretationofquantummechanicsintheabsenceofmeasurements,andtherefore abouttheinterpretationofquantumphysicsappliedtothefarpastoftheuniverse,be- foreexperimentswerepossible.Thisconstitutesaseriousgap—theinterpretationis consistent,butincomplete(asitshouldbefora“minimal”interpretation).TheCopen- hageninterpretation,whichclaimsthatnothingcanbeassertedintheabsenceofa measurement,isalsoconsistent.Butthissoundsliketheconceptthatatreefallen inthewoodhasfallenonlyaftersomeonehasseenit.Thisisoneofthereasonswhy quantummechanicscomesacrossassomewhatstrange.Inamany-worldinterpreta- tion,theworldsplitsandsplits,completelyunnoticedbyus,intoallpossiblefutures. Thisissciencefictionbyconception.Theotherknowninterpretationsareeithervari- ationsoftheaboveorrequireadditional,inprinciple,unobservable,andhencefic- tionalstuff.Asaresult,muchofquantumphysicsappearstothegeneralpublicasa kindofquantummagic. Why do physicists live with this? A noteworthy aspect of the standard inter- pretationsisthatthestatevectorcannotrepresentthewholeuniverse,sinceitmust https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110667387-201 VIII | Preface excludeanobserverormeasuringdevicethatdetermineswhenameasurementhas occurred.Thisistheso-calledHeisenbergcutbetweenthequantumandtheclassical world.Todate,thishasnotbeenaprobleminmakingsuccessfulexperimentalpredic- tions,sopractitionersareoftensatisfiedwiththequantumformalisminastandardin- terpretation.Traditionbuildsthequantumedificeonatime-honoredfoundationthat accountsforessentiallyallexperimentalfacts.Butittakesa“shut-up-and-calculate” attitudetowardstheinterpretationofthefoundations.Thetraditionalpresentationof quantumphysicsisclearlyadequateforprediction,butseemsnottobesuitablefor anadequateunderstanding. Asecondreasonisthatanumberofpopular“quantummagicians”,veryexperi- encedquantumphysicspractitionersspecializinginquantumoptics,liketogivetheir audiencetheimpressionthatimportantpartsofquantummechanicsareweird.And thegeneralpubliclovesit!Partofthemagicians’artconsistsofremainingsilentabout thetruereasonswhythingsworkrationally,sincethentheweirdnessisgone,andwith ittheentertainmentvalue. Doesquantummechanicshavetobeweird?Itsellsmuchbettertothegeneral publicifitispresentedthatway,andthereisalonghistoryofproceedinglikethis.But itisanobstacleforeveryonewhowantstotrulyunderstandquantummechanics,and tophysicsstudents,whohavetounlearnwhattheyweretoldaslaypersons.When presentedintherightway,quantummechanicsisnotatallweird,butverycloseto classicalmechanics.Muchoftheweirdnesscomesfromforcingquantummechanics into the straightjacket of a particle picture. The particle picture breaks down com- pletelyinthesubatomicdomain,aswitnessedbythemanyweirdthingsthatresult fromsuchaview. Coherentquantumphysicsremovestheradicalsplitbetweenclassicalmechanics andquantummechanics.Thisbookdemonstratesthatatanylevelofdetail,Nature canberationallyandobjectivelyunderstoodjustbyinterpretingthetraditional,well- establishedmathematicsofquantumphysicsinanappropriateway.Thisrequiresa reinterpretation of the tradition. The interpretation featured in this book succeeds withoutanychangeinthetheory,andwithoutintroducingnewcounterintuitivefea- turesornewtheoreticalconcepts.Theresultingquantumfeaturesthenareonlythose familiarfromeverydaylife. Nature,asweperceiveitwithoureyes,consistsofimages—inmathematicalterms 2-dimensionalfields,withproperties(colors)ateachpoint.Ourbrainsinterpretim- agesasscenesina,strictlyspeaking,notdirectlyperceived3-dimensionalworldof objects.Thesameobjectseemslargerorsmallerdependingonitsdistancefromus, withashapethatisdeducedfromimagesshowingtheobjectfromdifferentperspec- tives.Allourobservationsareindirect:Weperceiveimagesandothersensoryinforma- tionandinferthetrue(theoretical,reproducible,invariant)propertiesoftheobjects aroundus. Fromtheexperienceofthemultitudeofsuchsensoryperceptionsofmanypeople, ourculturecreatedanetworkofconceptsandrelationsnowcalledscience,andin

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