Quantum mechanics for two-timers

Extensions of standard quantum mechanics with joint probability distributions for position coordinates and momenta have been proposed in the literature. Time is assumed to be one-dimensional in these studies. In view of recent interest in two-dimensional time, the construction is extended to this situation and found to satisfy the necessary consistency conditions.     

Quantum mechanics of inflation

We derive the Harrison-Zeldovich spectrum by perturbatively solving the Wheeller-DeWitt equations for an inflating universe coupled to a scalar field in 2 + 1 and 3 + 1 dimensions.     

Quantum mechanics versus realism

Quantum theory accepts the point-like indivisible (classical) character of a particle as a mere product of a measuring process, or what has become known as a collapse. Following the notion of empty waves, which accepts the particle as a real existent entity without regard to the measurement process, we propose an experiment that may shed some light on the reality of the particle and the consequences of that reality.     

Quantum mechanics from self-interaction

We explore the possibility thatzitterbewegung is the key to a complete understanding of the Dirac theory of electrons. We note that a literal interpretation of thezitterbewegung implies that the electron is the seat of an oscillating bound electromagnetic field similar to de Broglie's pilot wave. This opens up new possibilities for explaining two major features of quantum mechanics as consequences of an underlying physical mechanism. On this basis, qualitative explanations are given for electron diffraction, the existence of quantized radiationless states, the Pauli principle, and other features of quantum mechanics.     

Quantum mechanics of seeing

A human being viewing a defocused television tube with sweep voltages turned off will see point scintillations at sufficiently low intensities. We show that quantum mechanics predicts these scintillations. Furthermore, by assuming a response of the human nervous system of a type not inconsistent with experiment, measurement theory is used to show that these scintillations will be distributed in proportion to the magnitude squared of the electron wave function incident upon the television tube screen. This nervous system response is to break up the wave incident upon a spot on the retina into a number of similar waves transmitted by different nerves to the brain. The number of these waves is proportional to the incident energy density. Since the theory itself predicts the proper probability distribution, it is unnecessary to introduce a postulate for it.     

Quantum mechanics of leptogenesis

Thermal leptogenesis is an attractive mechanism that explains in a simple way the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe. It is usually studied via the Boltzmann equations, which describes the time evolution of particle densities or distribution functions in a thermal bath. The Boltzmann equations are classical equations and suffer from basic conceptual problems and they lack to include many quantum phenomena. We show how to address leptogenesis systematically in a purely quantum way, by describing non-equilibrium excitations of a Majorana particle in the Kadanoff-Baym equations with significant emphasis on the initial and boundary conditions of the solutions. We apply our results to thermal leptogenesis, computing analytically the asymmetry generated, comparing it with the semiclassical Boltzmann approach. The non-locality of the Kadanoff-Baym equations shows how off-shell effects can have a huge impact on the generated asymmetry. The insertion of standard model decay widths to the particles excitations of the bath is also discussed. We explain how with a trivial insertion of these widths we regain locality on the processes.     

Quantum mechanics as a deformation of classical mechanics

Mathematical properties of deformations of the Poisson Lie algebra and of the associative algebra of functions on a symplectic manifold are given. The suggestion to develop quantum mechanics in terms of these deformations is confronted with the mathematical structure of the latter. As examples, spectral properties of the harmonic oscillator and of the hydrogen atom are derived within the new formulation. Further mathematical generalizations and physical applications are proposed.Work supported in part by the National Science Foundation.     

Quantum mechanics in curved space-time

In this paper, the principles of the general relativity are used to formulate quantum wave equations for spin-0 and spin-1/2 particles. More specifically, the equations are worked in a Schwarzschild like metric. As a test, the hydrogen atom spectrum is calculated. A comparison of the calculated spectrum with the numerical data of the deuterium energy levels shows a significant improvement of the accord, and the deviations are almost five times smaller then the ones obtained with the Dirac theory. The implications of the theory considering the strong interactions are also discussed.Received: 27 January 2005, Revised: 15 April 2005, Published online: 31 May 2005     

Quantum mechanics without wave functions

The phase space formulation of quantum mechanics is based on the use of quasidistribution functions. This technique was pioneered by Wigner, whose distribution function is perhaps the most commonly used of the large variety that we find discussed in the literature. Here we address the question of how one can obtain distribution functions and hence do quantum mechanics without the use of wave functions.     

Quantum mechanics based on position

The only observational quantity which quantum mechanics needs to address islocation. The typical primitive observation on a microsystem (e.g., photon) isdetection at alocation (e.g., by a photomultiplier looking at a grating). To analyze an experiment, (a) form a conceptual ensemble of replicas of it, (b) assign a wave function (in position representation) to its initial condition, (c) evolve the wave function by the Schrödinger equation (known, once and for all, as a function of the system's composition), (d) compute the probability for particle detection at various times and places. The initial wave function is chosen on the basis of experience with such treatments. Key experiments are thus treated: (i) time-of-flight, (ii) Stern-Gerlach, (iii) Franck-Hertz, (iv) photon recoil, (v) photoionization. Quantum states, dynamical variables, and measurements, and the usual postulates about them, are superfluous. The explicit treatments are nonrelativistic; the existence of relativistic generalizations is left open.     

Quantum mechanics with difference operators

A formulation of quantum mechanics with additive and multiplicative (q-) difference operators instead of differential operators is studied from first principles. Borel-quantisation on smooth configuration spaces is used as guiding quantisation method. After a short discussion this method is translated step-by-step to a framework based on difference operators. To restrict the resulting plethora of possible quantisations additional assumptions motivated by simplicity and plausibility are required. Multiplicative difference operators and the corresponding q-Borel kinematics are given on the circle and its N-point discretisation; the connection to q-deformations of the Witt algebra is discussed. For a “natural” choice of the q-kinematics a corresponding q-difference evolution equation is obtained. This study shows general difficulties for a generalisation of a physical theory from a known one to a “new” framework.     

Quantum mechanics without probability amplitudes

First steps are taken toward a formulation of quantum mechanics which avoids the use of probability amplitudes and is expressed entirely in terms of observable probabilities. Quantum states are represented not by state vectors or density matrices but by probability tables, which contain only the probabilities of the outcomes of certain special measurements. The rule for computing transition probabilities, normally given by the squared modulus of the inner product of two state vectors, is re-expressed in terms of probability tables. The new version of the rule is surprisingly simple, especially when one considers that the notion of complex phases, so crucial in the evaluation of inner products, is entirely absent from the representation of states used here.     

Quantum mechanics and the psyche

In this paper we apply the last developments of the theory of measurement in quantum mechanics to the phenomenon of consciousness and especially to the awareness of unconscious components. Various models of measurement in quantum mechanics can be distinguished by the fact that there is, or there is not, a collapse of the wave function. The passive aspect of consciousness seems to agree better with models in which there is no collapse of the wave function, whereas in the active aspect of consciousness—i.e., that which goes together with an act or a choice—there seems to be a collapse of the wave function. As an example of the second possibility we study in detail the photon delayed-choice experiment and its consequences for subjective or psychological time. We apply this as an attempt to explain synchronicity phenomena. As a model of application of the awareness of unconscious components we study the mourning process. We apply also the quantum paradigm to the phenomenon of correlation at a distance between minds, as well as to group correlations that appear during group therapies or group training. Quantum entanglement leads to the formation of group unconscious or collective unconscious. Finally we propose to test the existence of such correlations during sessions of group training. The text was submitted by the authors in English.