On Saturday, June 23, 2018 at 9:21:05 PM UTC, [email protected] wrote: > > > > On Saturday, June 23, 2018 at 7:52:08 PM UTC, Brent wrote: >> >> >> >> On 6/23/2018 12:02 AM, [email protected] wrote: >> >> >> >> On Saturday, June 23, 2018 at 6:25:38 AM UTC, Brent wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>> On 6/22/2018 3:13 PM, [email protected] wrote: >>> >>> *I've been struggling lately with how to interpret a superposition of >>> states when it is ostensibly unintelligible, e.g., a cat alive and dead >>> simultaneously, or a radioactive source decayed and undecayed >>> simultaneously. If we go back to the vector space consisting of those >>> "little pointing things", it follows that any vector which is a sum of >>> other vectors, simultaneously shares the properties of the components in >>> its sum. This is simple and obvious. I therefore surmise that since a >>> Hilbert space is a linear vector space, this interpretation took hold as a >>> natural interpretation of superpositions in quantum mechanics, and led to >>> Schroedinger's cat paradox. I don't accept the explanation of decoherence >>> theory, that we never see these unintelligible superpositions because of >>> virtually instantaneous entanglements with the environment. Decoherence >>> doesn't explain why certain bases are stable; others not, even though, >>> apriori, all bases in a linear vector space are equivalent. These >>> considerations lead me to the conclusion that a quantum superposition of >>> states is just a calculational tool, and when the superposition consists of >>> orthogonal component states, it allows us to calculate the probabilities of >>> the measured system transitioning to the state of any component. In this >>> interpretation, essentially the CI, there remains the unsolved problem of >>> providing a mechanism for the transition from the SWE, to the collapse to >>> one of the eigenfunctions when the the measurement occurs. I prefer to >>> leave that as an unsolved problem, than accept the extravagance of the MWI, >>> or decoherence theory, which IMO doesn't explain the paradoxes referred to >>> above, but rather executes what amounts to a punt, claiming the paradoxes >>> exist for short times so can be viewed as nonexistent, or solved. AG. * >>> >>> >>> If you're willing to take QM as simply a calculational tool, then QBism >>> solve the problem of wf collapse. >>> >>> Brent >>> >> >> Thanks. I'll check it out. Is QBism a plausible theory? Do some >> professional "heavies" accept it? AG >> >> >> Asher Peres started it and he was a "heavy weight". Chris Fuchs has been >> the main advocate, but he's kind of strange. The interpretation is not >> widely liked because it's the extreme end of instrumentalism. >> >> Brent >> > > *Let's go back to those little pointy things and write A = B + C, where B > and C are basis states with appropriate multiplicative constants. Given > this particular basis, one could interpret this equation as a superposition > where A is understood as being in states B and C simultaneously. But A > could be written in an infinite set of different sums using orthogonal or > non orthogonal bases. So, given the lack of uniqueness, it seems an > unwarranted stretch to assume any vector can be interpreted as being in two > states simultaneously, If we drop this interpretation for quantum > superpositions, most, possibly all the paradoxes go away. Who was the > person who first interpreted a superposition in this way, which seems the > root of many unnecessary, a[[ar problems in quantum mechanics? AG * >
... *Who first interpreted a quantum superposition this way, which seems the root of many unnecessary, intractable problems in quantum mechanics, inclusive of the idea that a particle can be in more than one position simultaneously? AG * -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
