Generalized Quantum Mechanics for Separated Systems

We give seven necessary physical conditions on a property lattice for to describe two quantum systems when they are separated.     

Localization of Non-Relativistic Particles

This paper is a contribution to the problem of particle localization in non-relativistic Quantum Mechanics. Our main results will be (1) to formulate the problem of localization in terms of invariant subspaces of the Hilbert space, and (2) to show that the rigged Hilbert space incorporates particle localization in a natural manner.     

Quantum Mechanics is About Quantum Information

I argue that quantum mechanics is fundamentally a theory about the representation and manipulation of information, not a theory about the mechanics of nonclassical waves or particles. The notion of quantum information is to be understood as a new physical primitive---just as, following Einsteins special theory of relativity, a field is no longer regarded as the physical manifestation of vibrations in a mechanical medium, but recognized as a new physical entity in its own right.     

The Principle Underlying Quantum Mechanics

The present article reports on the finding of the principle behind quantum mechanics. The principle, referred to as genuine fortuitousness, implies that the basic event, a click in a counter, comes without any cause and thus as a discontinuity in spacetime. From this principle, the formalism of quantum mechanics emerges with a radically new content, no longer dealing with things (atoms, particles, or fields) to be measured. Instead, quantum mechanics is recognized as the theory of distributions of uncaused clicks that form patterns laid down by spacetime symmetry and is thereby revealed as a subject of unexpected simplicity and beauty. The departure from usual quantum mechanics is strikingly borne out by the absence of Planck's constant from the theory. The elimination of indeterminate particles as cause for the clicks, which the principle of genuine fortuitousness implies, is analogous to the elimination of the ether implied by the principle of relativity.     

Counterfactual Reasoning in Time-Symmetric Quantum Mechanics

A qualification is suggested for the counterfactual reasoning involved in some aspects of time-symmetric quantum theory (which involves ensembles selected by both the initial and final states). The qualification is that the counterfactual reasoning should only apply to times when the quantum system has been subjected to physical interactions which place it in a “measurement-ready condition” for the unperformed experiment on which the counterfactual reasoning is based. The defining characteristic of a “measurement-ready condition” is that a quantum system could be found to have the counterfactually ascribed property without direct physical interaction with the eigenstate corresponding to that property.     

Glafka 2004: Generalizing Quantum Mechanics for Quantum Gravity

Familiar quantum mechanics assumes a fixed spacetime geometry. Quantummechanics must therefore be generalized for quantum gravity where spacetime geometry is not fixed but rather a quantum variable. This extended abstract sketches a fully fourdimensional generalized quantum mechnics of cosmological spacetime geometries that is one such generalization.This contribution to the proceedings of the Glafka Conference is an extended abstract of the author's talk there. More details can be found in the references cited at the end of the abstract expecially (Hartle, 1995).     

Experiments in PT-Symmetric Quantum Mechanics

Extended quantum mechanics using non-Hermitian (pseudo-Hermitian) Hamiltonians H = H is briefly reviewed. A few related mathematical experiments concerning supersymmetric regularizations, solvable simulations and large-N expansion techniques are summarized. We suggest that they could initiate a deeper study of nonlocalized structures (quasi-particles) and/or of their unstable and many-particle generalizations. Using the Klein-Gordon example for illustration, we show how the PT symmetry of its Feshbach-Villars Hamiltonian H ^FV might clarify experimental aspects of relativistic quantum mechanics.     

Complex Parameters in Quantum Mechanics

The Schrödinger equation for stationary states in a central potential is studied in an arbitrary number of spatial dimensions, say q. After transformation into an equivalent equation, where the coefficient of the first derivative vanishes, it is shown that in such equation the coefficient of r ^–2 is an even function of a parameter, say , depending on a linear combination of q and of the angular momentum quantum number, say l. Thus, the case of complex values of , which is useful in scattering theory, involves, in general, both a complex value of the parameter originally viewed as the spatial dimension and complex values of the angular momentum quantum number. The paper ends with a proof of the Levinson theorem in an arbitrary number of spatial dimensions, when the potential includes a non-local term which might be useful to understand the interaction between two nucleons.     

Failure of Standard Quantum Mechanics for the Description of Compound Quantum Entities

We reformulate the separated quantum entities theorem, i.e., the theorem that proves that two separated quantum entities cannot be described by means of standard quantum mechanics, within the fully elaborated operational Geneva–Brussels approach to quantum axiomatics, where the basic mathematical structure is that of a State Property System. We give arguments that show that the core of this result indicates a failure of standard quantum mechanics, and not just some peculiar shortcoming due to the axiomatic approach to quantum mechanics itself.     

Holonomy in Quaternionic Quantum Mechanics

The generalization of geometric phase for the quantum systems described by quaternionic quantum mechanics is given. The geometry of the quantum cyclic evolution is studied and the quaternionic Berry phase is shown to be given by the holonomy of the suitably defined fiber bundle.     

Time-Symmetric Quantum Mechanics

A time-symmetric formulation of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics is developed by applying two consecutive boundary conditions onto solutions of a time- symmetrized wave equation. From known probabilities in ordinary quantum mechanics, a time-symmetric parameter P₀ is then derived that properly weights the likelihood of any complete sequence of measurement outcomes on a quantum system. The results appear to match standard quantum mechanics, but do so without requiring a time-asymmetric collapse of the wavefunction upon measurement, thereby realigning quantum mechanics with an important fundamental symmetry.     

Lower Bound of Minimal Time Evolution in Quantum Mechanics

We show that the total time of evolution from the initial quantum state to final quantum state and then back to the initial state, i.e., making a round trip along the great circle over S ², must have a lower bound in quantum mechanics, if the difference between two eigenstates of the 2×2 Hamiltonian is kept fixed. Even the non-hermitian quantum mechanics can not reduce it to arbitrarily small value. In fact, we show that whether one uses a hermitian Hamiltonian or a non-hermitian, the required minimal total time of evolution is same. It is argued that in hermitian quantum mechanics the condition for minimal time evolution can be understood as a constraint coming from the orthogonality of the polarization vector P of the evolving quantum state with the vector of the 2×2 hermitian Hamiltonians and it is shown that the Hamiltonian H can be parameterized by two independent parameters and Θ.     

Remarks on Mohrhoff's Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

In a recently proposed interpretation of quantum mechanics, U. Mohrhoff advocates original and thought-provoking views on space and time, the definition of macroscopic objects, and the meaning of probability statements. The interpretation also addresses a number of questions about factual events and the nature of reality. The purpose of this note is to examine several issues raised by Mohrhoff's interpretation, and to assess whether it helps providing solutions to the long-standing problems of quantum mechanics.     

消干效应和量子力学新解释的意义

简单介绍了消干 (decoherence)效应以及量子力学的一种新解释———由Griffiths,Gell Mann和Omn埁ｓ等独立提出的“消干历史解释”的由来和要点 ,评述了这一进展在量子理论发展中的意义 .     

Nonlinear Quantum Mechanics at the Planck Scale

I argue that the linearity of quantum mechanics is an emergent feature at the Planck scale, along with the manifold structure of space-time. In this regime the usual causality violation objections to nonlinearity do not apply, and nonlinear effects can be of comparable magnitude to the linear ones and still be highly suppressed at low energies. This can offer alternative approaches to quantum gravity and to the evolution of the early universe. PACS: 04.60.-m, 03.65.Ta