The contemporary controversy about the fundamental obscurity in quantum mechanics keeps on the old one about the aim of science, which was between the founders of the quantum theory. The orthodox quantum mechanics could be created only at the cost of renunciation of reality as the aim of natural science. The description only of phenomena, i.e. results of observation, should not be universal if no one believes that these phenomena are manifestation of a unique reality. Such belief concerning quantum mechanics is quite unacceptable because of irremediably conflict with special relativity. Nevertheless the quantum mechanics was developed and apprehended by most physicists as a universal theory of a quantum world. This fundamental discrepancy between the essence of the orthodox quantum mechanics and its history of development and studying has resulted both to an illusion about the aim of its description among most physicists and to the consideration of its fundamental obscurity as a universal problem among experts in quantum foundation. The aim of this paper is to show that quantum phenomena can not be described universally. It is indicated that rather the Schrodinger's than Born's interpretation of the wave function is valid for description of many quantum phenomena. The fundamental obscurity with which we are faced at the description, for example, macroscopic quantum phenomena differs fundamentally from the one with which the founders of the quantum theory were faced on atomic level.
Quantum mechanics describes successfully numerous quantum phenomena both microscopic and macroscopic, such as superconductivity. But the controversies about quantum mechanics, in the old days and present day, reveal fundamental obscurity in quantum mechanics. In this work reader attention is drawn first of all to the fact that the orthodox description of superconductivity and some other quantum phenomena uses the realistic interpretation of the wave function proposed by Schrodinger whereas the controversies take place until the present about the positivistic interpretation proposed by Born. Ca…
The foundations of quantum mechanics have been plagued by controversy throughout the 85 year history of the field. It is argued that lack of clarity in the formulation of basic philosophical questions leads to unnecessary obscurity and controversy and an attempt is made to identify the main forks in the road that separate the most important interpretations of quantum theory. The consistent histories formulation, also known as "consistent quantum theory", is described as one particular way (favored by the author) to answer the essential questions of interpretation. The theory is shown to be a r…
The formalism of quantum mechanics produces spectacular results, but its rules, its parameters are empirical, either deduced from classical physics, or from experimental results rather than from the postulates. Thus, quantum mechanics is purely phenomenological; for instance, the computation of the eigenvalues of the energy is generally a simple interpolation in the discrete space of the quantum numbers. The attempts to show that quantum electrodynamics is more precise than classical electrodynamics are based on wrong computations. The lack of paradoxes in the classical theory, the appearance …
It has been 61 years since Hugh Everett III's PhD dissertation, {\it On the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics}, was submitted to the Princeton University Physics Department. After more than a decade of relative obscurity it was resurrected by Bryce DeWitt as {\it The Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics} and since then has become an active topic of discussion, reinterpretation, and modification, especially among philosophers of science, quantum cosmologists, and advocates of quantum decoherence and quantum computing. Many of these analyses are quite sophisticated and considered to be…
We derive and investigate an expression for the dynamically modified decay of states coupled to an arbitrary continuum. This expression is universally valid for weak temporal perturbations. The resulting insights can serve as useful recipes for optimized control of decay and decoherence.
In the Hilbert space formulation of classical mechanics (CM), pioneered by Koopman and von Neumann (KvN), there are potentially more observables that in the standard approach to CM. In this paper we show that actually many of those extra observables are not invariant under a set of universal local symmetries which appear once the KvN is extended to include the evolution of differential forms. Because of their non-invariance, those extra observables have to be removed. This removal makes the superposition of states in KvN, and as a consequence also in CM, impossible.
Arbitrary quantum states cannot be copied. In fact, to make a copy we must provide complete information about the system. However, can a quantum system self-replicate? This is not answered by the no-cloning theorem. In the classical context, Von Neumann showed that a `universal constructor' can exist which can self-replicate an arbitrary system, provided that it had access to instructions for making copy of the system. We question the existence of a universal constructor that may allow for the self-replication of an arbitrary quantum system. We prove that there is no deterministic universal qu…
The paper reviews and discusses four ideas scattered in previous papers of the author. First, objective properties of quantum systems are not associated with observables but are defined by preparations. Second, measurable results of classical theories are not sharp. All such results can be obtained as high-entropy limits of quantum mechanics. Third, a careful study of exchange symmetry requires a modification of the theory of measurement. Fourth, screens and detectors are closely associated with state reduction. A new, rather improved understanding of quantum mechanics is achieved without any …
This paper deduces universal uncertainty principle in different quantum theories after about one century of proposing uncertainty principle by Heisenberg, i.e., new universal uncertainty principle of any orders of physical quantities in quantum physics, overcomes the difficulty that current quantum computer, quantum communication, quantum control, quantum mechanics and so on theories cannot give exact values of general uncertainty of any orders of physical quantities, further gives all relevant different expressions of the universal uncertainty principle and their applications. In fact, our st…
How much time does a tunneling wave packet spent in traversing a barrier? Quantum mechanical calculations result in zero time inside a barrier . In the nineties analogous tunneling experiments with microwaves were carried out. The results agreed with quantum mechanical calculations. Electron tunneling time is hard to measure being extremely short and parasitic effects due to the electric charge of electrons may be dominant. However, quite recently the atomic ionization tunneling time has been measured. Experimental data of photonic, phononic, and electronic tunneling time is available now and …
On classical phase spaces admitting just one complex-differentiable structure, there is no indeterminacy in the choice of the creation operators that create quanta out of a given vacuum. In these cases the notion of a quantum is universal, i.e., independent of the observer on classical phase space. Such is the case in all standard applications of quantum mechanics. However, recent developments suggest that the notion of a quantum may not be universal. Transformations between observers that do not agree on the notion of an elementary quantum are called dualities. Classical phase spaces admittin…
Optimal universal entanglement processes are discussed which entangle two quantum systems in an optimal way for all possible initial states. It is demonstrated that the linear character of quantum theory which enforces the peaceful coexistence of quantum mechanics and relativity imposes severe restrictions on the structure of the resulting optimally entangled states. Depending on the dimension of the one-particle Hilbert space such a universal process generates either a pure Bell state or mixed entangled states. In the limit of very large dimensions of the one-particle Hilbert space the von-Ne…
Quantum entanglement has been actively sought for in optomechanical and electromechanical systems. The simplest such system is a mechanical oscillator interacting with a coherent beam, while the oscillator also suffers from thermal decoherence. For this system, we show that quantum entanglement is always present between the oscillator and continuous outgoing fields -- even when the environmental temperature is high and the oscillator is highly classical. Such universal entanglement is also shown to be able to survive more than one oscillation cycle if characteristic frequency of the optomechan…
Products and tensor products are linked by a universal property. Imposing the invariance of the laws of Nature under tensor composition along with Leibniz identity determines quantum and classical mechanics algebraic structure through the interplay between products, coproducts, and the tensor product. Violations of Bell's inequalities distinguishes quantum from classical mechanics.
I present a reconstruction of general Hamiltonian action mechanics that eliminates all foundational problems of quantum mechanics. The key advance is the completion of Hamiltonian mechanics to the universal mechanics of particles based on action-waves, consistent with the inclusive validity of the principle of stationary action. It is found that irreducible indeterminism is intrinsic and universal at all scales of dynamics. The new action-wave equation is the complete description of single dynamical histories, dissolving the classical-quantum divide. The statistical theory of quantum mechanics…
We summarize the theoretical description of wave packets on molecular energy levels. We review the various quantum mechanical effects which can be studied and the models that can be verified on this system. This justifies our claim that the wave packet constitutes a universal quantum object.
We explore some implications of the hypothesis that quantum mechanics (QM) is universal, i.e., that QM does not merely describe information accessible to observers, but that it also describes the observers themselves. From that point of view, "free will" (FW) - the ability of experimentalists to make free choices of initial conditions - is merely an illusion. As a consequence, by entangling a part of brain (responsible for the illusion of FW) with a distant particle, one may create nonlocal correlations that can be interpreted as superluminal signals. In addition, if FW is an illusion, then QM…
Tsinghua University（清华大学）；Freie Universität Berlin（柏林自由大学）；Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie（柏林亥姆霍兹材料与能源中心）；University of Oxford（牛津大学）
We revisit the formulation of quantum mechanics over the quaternions and investigate the dynamical structure within this framework. Similar to standard complex quantum mechanics, time evolution is then mediated by a unitary operator which can be written as the exponential of the generator of time shifts. By imposing physical assumptions on the correspondence between the energy observable and the generator of time shifts, we prove that quaternionic quantum theory admits a time evolution only for systems with a quaternionic dimension of at most two. Applying the same strategy to standard complex…
Niels Bohr's arguments indicating the non-applicability of quantum methodology to the study of the ultimate details of life given in his book "Atomic physics and human knowledge" conflict with the commonly held opposite view. The bases for the usual beliefs are examined and shown to have little validity. Significant differences do exist between the living organism and the type of system studied successfully in the physics laboratory. Dealing with living organisms in quantum-mechanical terms with the same degree of rigour as is normal for non-living systems would seem not to be possible without…
By a significant modification of the standard protocol of quantum state Teleportation two processes ''forbidden'' by quantum mechanics in their exact form, the Universal NOT gate and the Universal Optimal Quantum Cloning Machine, have been implemented contextually and optimally by a fully linear method. In particular, the first experimental demonstration of the Tele-UNOT Gate, a novel quantum information protocol has been reported (cfr. quant-ph/0304070). A complete experimental realization of the protocol is presented here.
As it is well known, classical mechanics consists of several basic features like determinism, reductionism, completeness of knowledge and mechanicism. In this article the basic assumptions are discussed which underlie those features. It is shown that these basic assumptions - though universally assumed up the beginnings of the XX century - are far from being obvious. Finally it is shown that - to a certain extent - there is nothing wrong in assuming these basic postulates. Rather, the error lies in the epistemological absolutization of the theory, which was considered as a mirroring of Nature.
A simultaneous realization of the Universal Optimal Quantum Cloning Machine (UOQCM) and of the Universal-NOT gate by a quantum injected optical parametric amplification (QIOPA), is reported. The two processes, forbidden in their exact form for fundamental quantum limitations, are found universal and optimal, and the measured fidelity F<1 is found close to the limit values evaluated by quantum theory. This work may enlighten the yet little explored interconnections of fundamental axiomatic properties within the deep structure of quantum mechanics.
In some of the earliest work on quantum mechanical computers, Feynman showed how to implement universal quantum computation by the dynamics of a time-independent Hamiltonian. I show that this remains possible even if the Hamiltonian is restricted to be a sparse matrix with all entries equal to 0 or 1, i.e., the adjacency matrix of a low-degree graph. Thus quantum walk can be regarded as a universal computational primitive, with any desired quantum computation encoded entirely in some underlying graph. The main idea of the construction is to implement quantum gates by scattering processes.
Recent developments in the ZX-Calculus have resulted in complete axiomatisations first for an approximately universal restriction of the language, and then for the whole language. The main drawbacks were that the axioms that were added to achieve completeness were numerous, tedious to manipulate and lacked a physical interpretation. We present in this paper two complete axiomatisations for the general ZX-Calculus, that we believe are optimal, in that all their equations are necessary and moreover have a nice physical interpretation.
We introduce the first complete and approximatively universal diagrammatic language for quantum mechanics. We make the ZX-Calculus, a diagrammatic language introduced by Coecke and Duncan, complete for the so-called Clifford+T quantum mechanics by adding four new axioms to the language. The completeness of the ZX-Calculus for Clifford+T quantum mechanics was one of the main open questions in categorical quantum mechanics. We prove the completeness of the Clifford+T fragment of the ZX-Calculus using the recently studied ZW-Calculus, a calculus dealing with integer matrices. We also prove that t…
Building on a model recently proposed by F. Calogero, we postulate the existence of a coherent, long--range universal tremor affecting any stable and confined classical dynamical system. Deriving the characteristic fluctuative unit of action for each classical interaction, we obtain in all cases its numerical coincidence with the Planck action constant. We therefore suggest that quantum corrections to classical dynamics can be simulated by suitable classical stochastic fluctuations.
The concept of 'super-indeterminism' captures the notion that the free choice assumption of orthodox quantum mechanics necessitates only the following requirement: an agent's free-choice performance in the selection of measurement settings must not represent an exception to the rule of irreducible quantum indeterminism in the physical universe (i.e, "universal indeterminism"). Any additional metaphysical speculation, such as to whether quantum indeterminism, i.e., intrinsic randomness, implicates the reality of experimenter "freedom", "free will", or "free choice", is redundant in relation to …
The ZX-calculus is a graphical calculus for reasoning about quantum systems and processes. It is known to be universal for pure state qubit quantum mechanics, meaning any pure state, unitary operation and post-selected pure projective measurement can be expressed in the ZX-calculus. The calculus is also sound, i.e. any equality that can be derived graphically can also be derived using matrix mechanics. Here, we show that the ZX-calculus is complete for pure qubit stabilizer quantum mechanics, meaning any equality that can be derived using matrices can also be derived pictorially. The proof rel…
Modern advances in transformation optics and electromagnetic metamaterials made possible experimental demonstrations of highly unusual curvilinear optical spaces, such as various geometries necessary for electromagnetic cloaking. Recently we demonstrated that mapping light intensity in a hyperbolic metamaterial may also model the flow of time in an effective (2+1) dimensional Minkowski spacetime. Curving such an effective spacetime creates experimental model of a toy big bang. Here we demonstrate that at low light levels this model may be used to emulate a fully covariant version of quantum me…
The notion of measurements is central for many debates in quantum mechanics. One critical point is whether a measurement can be regarded as an absolute event, giving the same result for any observer in an irreversible manner. Using ideas from the gedankenexperiment of Wigner's friend it has been argued that, when combined with the assumptions of locality and no-superdeterminism, regarding a measurement as an absolute event is incompatible with the universal validity of quantum mechanics. We consider a weaker assumption: is the measurement event realised relatively to the observer when he only …
The Lie and module (Rinehart) algebraic structure of vector fields of compact support over C infinity functions on a (connected) manifold M define a unique universal non-commutative Poisson * algebra. For a compact manifold, a (antihermitian) variable Z, central with respect to both the product and the Lie product, relates commutators and Poisson brackets; in the non-compact case, sequences of locally central variables allow for the addition of an element with the same role. Quotients with respect to the (positive) values taken by Z* Z define classical Poisson algebras and quantum observable a…
If gravity respects quantum mechanics, it is important to identify the essential postulates of a quantum framework capable of incorporating gravitational phenomena. Such a construct likely requires elimination or modification of some of the "standard" postulates of quantum mechanics, in particular those involving time and measurement. This paper proposes a framework that appears sufficiently general to incorporate some expected features of quantum gravity. These include the statement that space and time may only emerge approximately and relationally. One perspective on such a framework is as a…
We present a quantum-mechanical generalization of the work penalty equation (Eq. (6) in Phys. Rev. Lett., 127, 190602 (2021)) with an alternative derivation.
This paper is a natural continuation of our previous paper arXiv:1011.4173 . We illustrated earlier that in classical Hamilton mechanics, for overwhelming majority of real chaotic macroscopic systems, alignment of their thermodynamic time arrows occurs because of their low interaction. This fact and impossibility to observe entropy decrease at introspection explain the second law of thermodynamics. The situation in quantum mechanics is even a little bit easier: all closed systems of finite volume are periodic or nearly periodic. The proof in quantum mechanics is in many respects similar to the…
We discuss the quantum mechanics of a particle restricted to the half-line $x > 0$ with potential energy $V = α/x^2$ for $-1/4 < α< 0$. It is known that two scale-invariant theories may be defined. By regularizing the near-origin behavior of the potential by a finite square well with variable width $b$ and depth $g$, it is shown how these two scale-invariant theories occupy fixed points in the resulting $(b,g)$-space of Hamiltonians. A renormalization group flow exists in this space and scaling variables are shown to exist in a neighborhood of the fixed points. Consequently, the propagator of …
This series of papers is devoted to an open-ended project aimed at the solution of Hilbert's sixth problem (concerning joint axiomatization of physics and probability theory) proposed to be constructed in the framework of an all-embracing mechanics. In this first paper, the bare skeleton of such a mechanics is constructed in the form of noncommutative Hamiltonian mechanics (NHM) which combines elements of noncommutative symplectic geometry and noncommutative probability in the framework of topological superalgebras; it includes, besides NHM basics, a treatment of Lie group actions in NHM and n…
The range of motion of a particle with certain energy $E$ confined in a potential is determined from the energy conservation law in classical mechanics. The counterpart of this question in quantum mechanics can be regarded as what the possible range of the expectation values of the position operator $ \langle x \rangle$ of a particle, which satisfies $E= \langle H \rangle$. This range depends on the state of the particle, but the universal upper and lower bounds, which is independent of the state, must exist. In this study, we show that these bounds can be derived by using the bootstrap method…
Universal properties of many-body systems in conformal quantum mechanics in arbitrary dimensions are presented. Specially, a general structure of discrete energy spectra and eigenstates is found. Finally, a simple construction of a universal time operator conjugated to a conformal Hermitian or a $ PT-$ invariant Hamiltonian is proposed.
The universal dynamic uncertainty, discovered in Parts I and II of this series of papers for the case of Hamiltonian quantum systems, is further specified to reveal the hierarchical structure of levels of dynamically redundant 'realisations' which takes the form of the intrinsically probabilistic 'fundamental dynamical fractal' of a problem and determines fractal character of the observed quantities. This intrinsic fractality is obtained as a natural, causally derived property of dynamic behaviour of a system with interaction and the corresponding complete solution. Every branch of the fundame…
Our objective is to demonstrate an inconsistency with both the original and modern Everettian Many Worlds Interpretations. We do this by examining two important corollaries of the universally valid quantum mechanics in the context of the Quantum Brownian Motion (QBM) model: "Entanglement Relativity" and the "parallel occurrence of decoherence." We conclude that the highlighted inconsistency demands that either there is a privileged spatial structure of the QBM model universe or that the Everettian Worlds are not physically real.
Commented translation of the paper "Universelle Bedeutung des Wirkungsquantums", published by Jun Ishiwara in German in the Proceedings of Tokyo Mathematico-Physical Society 8 106-116 (1915). In his work, Ishiwara, tenured at Sendai University, Japan, proposed - simultaneously with Arnold Sommerfeld, William Wilson and Niels Bohr in Europe - the pase-space-integral quantization, a rule that would be incorporated into the old-quantum-mechanics formalism.
Operating in the framework of `supmech' (a scheme of mechanics which aims at providing a concrete setting for the axiomatization of physics and probability theory as required in Hilbert's sixth problem; integrating noncommutative symplectic geometry and noncommutative probability in an algebraic setting, it associates, with every `experimentally accessible' system, a symplectic algebra and operates essentially as noncommutative Hamiltonian mechanics with some extra sophistication in the treatment of states) it is shown that interaction between systems can be consistently described only if eith…
Inspired by its fundamental importance in quantum mechanics, we define and study the notion of entanglement for abstract physical theories, investigating its profound connection with the concept of superposition. We adopt the formalism of general probabilistic theories (GPTs), encompassing all physical models whose predictive power obeys minimal requirements. Examples include classical theories, which do not exhibit superposition and whose state space has the shape of a simplex, quantum mechanics, as well as more exotic models such as Popescu-Rohrlich boxes. We call two GPTs entangleable if th…
Ordinary quantum mechanics is formulated on the basis of the existence of an ideal classical clock external to the system under study. This is clearly an idealization. As emphasized originally by Salecker and Wigner and more recently by other authors, there exist limits in nature to how ``classical'' even the best possible clock can be. When one introduces realistic clocks, quantum mechanics ceases to be unitary and a fundamental mechanism of decoherence of quantum states arises. We estimate the rate of universal loss of unitarity using optimal realistic clocks. In particular we observe that t…
In this talk, we discuss real-time thermalization dynamics of $\mathbf{Z}_2$ Lattice Gauge Theory in 2+1 spacetime dimensions. While classical thermalization is commonly associated with chaotic behavior, turbulence and universality, the manifestation of these phenomena in quantum mechanical systems is not clear. However, when viewed through the lens of Entanglement Structure, we find that quantum thermalization proceeds in characteristic stages and reveals phenomena remarkably similar to their classical counterparts: chaos, turbulence and universality.
That gravitation can be understood as purely metric phenomenon depends crucially on the validity of a number of hypotheses which are summarised by the Einstein Equivalence Principle, the least well tested part of which being the Universality of Gravitational Redshift. A recent and currently widely debated proposal (Nature 463 (2010) 926-929) to re-interpret some 10-year old experiments in atom interferometry would imply, if tenable, substantial reductions on upper bounds for possible violations of the Universality of Gravitational Redshift by four orders of magnitude. This interpretation, howe…
Proof of a Universal Speed Limit on Fast Scrambling in Quantum Systems
Joint Quantum Institute and Department of Physics, University of Maryland（马里兰大学联合量子研究所与物理系）；Condensed Matter Theory Center, Department of Physics, University of Maryland（马里兰大学凝聚态理论中心与物理系）
