W. David Wick
I discuss three proposed experiments that could in principle locate the boundary between the classical and quantum worlds, as well as distinguish the Hamiltonian theory presented in the first paper of this series from the spontaneous-collapse theories.
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The quantum mechanical measurement process is considered. A hypothetical concept of irrational dynamical variables is proposed. A possible definition of measurement is discussed along with a mathematical method to calculate experimental result probabilities. The postulates of quantum mechanics are analyzed and modified. Thought experiments and implications are considered.
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Possible theoretical frameworks for measurement of (arrival) time in the nonrelativistic quantum mechanics are reviewed. It is argued that the ambiguity between indirect measurements by a suitably introduced time operator and direct measurements by a physical clock particle has a counterpart in the corresponding classical framework of measurement of the Newtonian time based on the Hamiltonian mechanics.
Supmech, an algebraic scheme of mechanics integrating noncommutative symplectic geometry and noncommutative probability, subsumes quantum and classical mechanics and permits consistent treatment of interaction of quantum and classical systems. Quantum measurements are treated in this framework; the von Neumann reduction rule (generally postulated) is derived and interpreted in physical terms.
Mini-Proceedings ECT*: Speakable in quantum mechanics: atomic, nuclear and subnuclear physics tests, ECT*-Trento, 29 August - 2 September, 2011
The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen argument on quantum mechanics incompleteness is formulated in terms of elements of reality inferred from joint (as opposed to alternative) measurements, in two examples involving entangled states of three spin-1/2 particles. The same states allow us to obtain proofs of the incompatibility between quantum mechanics and elements of reality.
Quantum mechanics predicts the joint probability distribution of the outcomes of simultaneous measurements of commuting observables, but, in the state of the art, has lacked the operational definition of simultaneous measurements. The question is answered as to when the consecutive applications of measuring apparatuses give a simultaneous measurement of their observables. For this purpose, all the possible state reductions caused by measurements of an observable is also characterized by their operations.
A phase space mathematical formulation of quantum mechanical processes accompanied by and ontological interpretation is presented in an axiomatic form. The problem of quantum measurement, including that of quantum state filtering, is treated in detail. Unlike standard quantum theory both quantum and classical measuring device can be accommodated by the present approach to solve the quantum measurement problem
In a recent article (New Journal of Physics 9, 165, 2007), Wiseman has proposed the use of so-called weak measurements for the determination of the velocity of a quantum particle at a given position, and has shown that according to quantum mechanics the result of such a procedure is the Bohmian velocity of the particle. Although Bohmian mechanics is empirically equivalent to variants based on velocity formulas different from the Bohmian one, and although it has been proven that the velocity in Bohmian mechanics is not measurable, we argue here for the somewhat paradoxical conclusion that Wisem…
Four common optimality criteria for measurements are formulated using relations in the set of observables, and their connections are clarified. As case studies, 1-0 observables, localization observables, and photon counting observables are considered.
A simple experiment using radioactive decay is proposed to test the possibility of a determinsistic, but chaotic, origin of quantum mechanical randomness.
The continuous quantum measurement within the probability representation of quantum mechanics is discussed. The partial classical propagator of the symplectic tomogram associated to a particular measurement outcome is introduced, for which the representation of a continuous measurement through the restricted path integral is applied. The classical propagator for the system undergoing a non-selective measurement is derived by summing these partial propagators over the entire outcome set. The elaborated approach is illustrated by considering non-selective position measurement of a quantum oscill…
It is commonly believed that the most general type of a quantum-mechanical measurement is one described by a positive-operator valued measure (POVM). In the present paper, this statement is proven for any measurements on quantum systems with a finite-dimensional state space. The proof of POVM nature of an arbitrary measurement is carried out using a purely operational approach, which is fully ignorant about what is inside a measurement apparatus. The suggested approach gives also an opportunity to derive the Born rule.
We describe a system composed of two coupled optical cavity modes with a coupling modulated by a bulk mechanical resonator. In addition, one of the cavity modes is irreversibly coupled to a single photon source. Our scheme is an opto-mechanical realisation of the Jaynes-Cummings model where the qubit is a dual rail optical qubit while the bosonic degree of freedom is a matter degree of freedom realised as the bulk mechanical excitation. We show the possibility of engineering phonon number states of the mechanical oscillator in such a system by computing the conditional state of the mechanics a…
A simple way, accessible to undergraduates, is given to understand measurements in quantum mechanics. The ensemble interpretation of quantum mechanics is natural and provides this simple access to the measurement problem. This paper explains measurement in terms of this relatively young interpretation, first made rigorous by L. Ballentine starting in the 1970's. Its facility is demonstrated through a detailed explication of the Wigner Friend argument using the Stern Gerlach experiment. Following a recent textbook, this approach is developed further through analysis of free particle states as w…
A coarse-grained quantum operator technique is used along with the formalism of Bohmian mechanics endowed with stochastic character at the quantum level in order to address some central issues in the quantum theory of measurement. A surprisingly simple picture of decoherence and EPR correlations emerges from its use.
The noncontextuality of quantum mechanics can be directly tested by measuring two entangled particles with more than two outcomes per particle. The two associated contexts are "interlinked" by common observables.
In this paper a didactic approach is described which immediately leads to an understanding of those postulates of quantum mechanics used most frequently in quantum computation. Moreover, an interpretation of quantum mechanics is presented which is motivated by retaining the point of view of classical mechanics as much as possible, and which is consistent with relativity theory. Everything can be written down in terms of well-known mathematical formulations that can be found in every textbook about quantum mechanics. Therefore, in this version, almost no formulas are used.
We study successive measurements of two observables using von Neumann's measurement model. The two-pointer correlation for arbitrary coupling strength allows retrieving the initial system state. We recover Luders rule, the Wigner formula and the Kirkwood-Dirac distribution in the appropriate limits of the coupling strength.
The basic concepts of classical mechanics are given in the operator form. The dynamical equation for a hybrid system, consisting of quantum and classical subsystems, is introduced and analyzed in the case of an ideal nonselective measurement. The nondeterministic evolution is found to be the consequence of the superposition of two different deterministic evolutions.
Environment-induced decoherence and superselection have been a subject of intensive research over the past two decades, yet their implications for the foundational problems of quantum mechanics, most notably the quantum measurement problem, have remained a matter of great controversy. This paper is intended to clarify key features of the decoherence program, including its more recent results, and to investigate their application and consequences in the context of the main interpretive approaches of quantum mechanics.
This paper presents arguments purporting to show that von Neumann's description of the measurement process in quantum mechanics has a modern day version in the decoherence approach. We claim that this approach and the de Broglie-Bohm theory emerges from Bohr's interpretation and are therefore obliged to deal with some obscures ideas which were antecipated, explicitly or implicitly and carefully circumvented, by Bohr.
Wigner had expressed the opinion that the impossibility of exact measurements of single operators like position operators rendered the notion of geometrical points somewhat dubious in physics. Using Sewell's recent resolution of the measurement problem (collapse of the wave packet) in quantum mechanics and extending it to the measurement of operators with continuous spectra, we are able to compare the situation in quantum mechanics with that in quantum mechanics. Our conclusion is that the notion of a geometrical point is as meaningful in quantum mechanics as it is in classical mechanics.
We discuss experimental situations that consist of multiple preparation and measurement stages. This leads us to a new approach to quantum mechanics. In particular, we introduce the idea of multi-time quantum states which are the appropriate tools for describing these experimental situations. We also describe multi-time measurements and discuss their relation to multi-time states. A consequence of our new formalism is to put states and operators on an equal footing. Finally we discuss the implications of our new approach to quantum mechanics for the problem of the flow of time.
A question of the time the system spends in the specified state, when the final state of the system is given, is raised. The model of weak measurements is used to obtain the expression for the time. The conditions for determination of such a time are obtained.
An inconsistency is pointed out within Quantum Mechanics as soon as successive joint measurements are involved on entangled states. The resolution of the inconsistency leads to a refutation of the use of entangled states as eigenvectors. Hence, the concept of quantum teleportation, which is based on the use of such entangled states--the Bell states--as eigenvectors, is demonstrated to be irrelevant to Quantum Mechanics.
We show that quantum mechanics predicts a contradiction with local hidden variable theories for photon number measurements which have limited resolving power, to the point of imposing an uncertainty in the photon number result which is macroscopic in absolute terms. We show how this can be interpreted as a failure of a new premise, macroscopic local realism.
Recent experimental tests of the symmetrization postulate of quantum mechanics are discussed. It is shown that in a strict sense these experiments cannot test the validity of the symmetrization postulate, but in most cases do test the spin-statistics connection. An experiment is proposed that would allow to search for possible violations of the symmetrization postulate.
Collapse models describe the breakdown of the quantum superposition principle when moving from microscopic to macroscopic scales. They are among the possible solutions to the quantum measurement problem and thus describe the emergence of classical mechanics from the quantum one. Testing collapse models is equivalent to test the limits of quantum mechanics. I will provide an overview on how one can test collapse models, and which are the future theoretical and experimental challenges ahead.
Symmetries are a key concept to connect mathematical elegance with physical insight. We consider measurement assemblages in quantum mechanics and show how their symmetry can be described by means of the so-called discrete bundles. It turns out that many measurement assemblages used in quantum information theory as well as for studying the foundations of quantum mechanics are entirely determined by symmetry; moreover, starting from a certain symmetry group, novel types of measurement sets can be constructed. The insight gained from symmetry allows us to easily determine whether the measurements…
The measurement problem is to explain why a system which is in a linear combination of states appears, upon measurement, to be in just one of those states. The solution given here is to first show that if one assumes linear, unitary, no collapse, no particle quantum mechanics, the different versions of reality are completely isolated from each other. This then implies only the eigenstates appropriate to the measurement setup will be perceived. In a Stern-Gerlach experiment, for example, only spin up or spin down will be perceived, but never a combination of the two.
The article recapitulates the concept of weak measurement in its broader sense encapsulating the trade between asymptotically weak measurement precision and asymptotically large measurement statistics. Essential applications in time-continuous measurement and in postselected measurement are presented both in classical and in quantum contexts. We discuss the anomalous quantum weak value in postselected measurement. We concentrate on the general mathematical and physical aspects of weak measurements and we do not expand on their interpretation. Particular applications, even most familiar ones, a…
Quantum enhanced sensing is a powerful technique in which nonclassical states are used to improve the sensitivity of a measurement. For enhanced mechanical displacement sensing, squeezed states of light have been shown to reduce the photon counting noise that limits the measurement noise floor. It has long been predicted, however, that suppressing the noise floor with squeezed light should produce an unavoidable increase in radiation pressure noise that drives the mechanical system. Such nonclassical radiation pressure forces have thus far been hidden by insufficient measurement strengths and …
In Bohmian mechanics particles follow continuous trajectories, hence 2-time position correlations are well defined. Nevertheless, Bohmian mechanics predicts the violation of Bell inequalities. Motivated by this fact we investigate position measurements in Bohmian mechanics by coupling the particles to macroscopic pointers. This explains the violation of Bell inequalities despite 2-time position correlations. We relate this fact to so-called surrealistic trajectories that, in our model, correspond to slowly moving pointers. Next, we emphasize that the nice feature of Bohmian mechanics, which do…
The problem of measurement in quantum mechanics is reanalyzed within a general, strictly probabilistic framework (without reduction postulate). Based on a novel comprehensive definition of measurement the natural emergence of objective events is demonstrated and their formal representation within quantum mechanics is obtained. In order to be objective an event is required to be observable or readable in at least two independent, mutually non-interfering ways with necessarily agreeing results. Consistency in spite of unrestricted validity of reversibility of the evolution or the superposition p…
We use a reservoir engineering technique based on two-tone driving to generate and stabilize a quantum squeezed state of a micron-scale mechanical oscillator in a microwave optomechanical system. Using an independent backaction evading measurement to directly quantify the squeezing, we observe $4.7\pm0.9$ dB of squeezing below the zero-point level, surpassing the 3 dB limit of standard parametric squeezing techniques. Our measurements also reveal evidence for an additional mechanical parametric effect. The interplay between this effect and the optomechanical interaction enhances the amount of …
A measurement-based protocol for the generation of delocalised quantum states of a mechanical system
本文提出了一种基于测量的协议，用于生成机械系统中的局域量子态，通过光学输出检测实现非经典态的生成，并分析了其在不同条件下的性能表现。
Precise measurements of tiny forces and displacements play an important role in science and technology. The precision of recent experiments, while beginning to reach the limits imposed by quantum mechanics, is necessarily spoiled by the unavoidable influence of noise. Here we obtain a quantum limit for the uncertainty in the estimation of a resonant classical force acting on a noisy quantum-mechanical oscillator. We determine the best initial state of the oscillator and the best measurement procedure, thus getting a rigorous and useful benchmark for experiments aiming to detect extremely small…
A paradox in the quantum-mechanical treatment of destructive measurements on photons
本文指出，在正统量子力学框架下，对叠加态光子的破坏性测量无法真正测得其属性，构成一个悖论，挑战了此类测量作为QM预言的确认。
A model of repeated quantum measurements of magnetic flux in superconducting circuits manifesting tunneling is discussed. The perturbation due to the previous measurements of magnetic flux is always present unless quantum nondemolition measurements are performed. By replacing the classical notion of noninvasivity with this condition, temporal Bell-like inequalities allows one to test the observability at the macroscopic level of the conflict between realism and quantum theory.
We point out that, if one accepts the validity of quantum mechanics, the Bell parameter for the polarization state of two photons can be measured in a simpler way than by the standard procedure [Clauser, Horne, Shimony, and Holt, Phys. Rev. Lett. 23, 880 (1969)]. The proposed method requires only two measurements with parallel linear-polarizer settings for Alice and Bob at 0 and 45 degrees, and yields a significantly smaller statistical error for a large Bell parameter.
We present a new interpretation of the terms superposition, entanglement, and measurement that appear in quantum mechanics. We hypothesize that the structure of the wave function for a quantum system at the sub-Planck scale has a deterministic cyclic structure. Each cycle comprises a sequential succession of the eigenstates that comprise a given wave function. Between unitary operations or measurements on the wave function, the sequential arrangement of the current eigenstates chosen by the system is immaterial, but once chosen it remains fixed until another unitary operation or measurement ch…
Tensor universality often implies that multi-partite quantum-state processing is determined by what happens in totally disentangled cases. In independent systems relative time direction for the parts is arbitrary. This hints that time may be linked to entanglement and measurements and that there may be a measurement-only version of quantum mechanics. One-way quantum computation suggests that this may be possible.
The aim of this work is to show how Einstein's quantum hypothesis leads immediately and necessarily to a departure from classical mechanics. First we note that the classical description and predictions are in terms of idealized measurements that are exact, instantaneous, non-perturbative, independent of each other and process agnostic. If we assume we cannot arbitrarily reduce the strength of a signal, measurements are ultimately perturbative to some degree. We show how a physical description in which the best measurement conceivable, i.e. the ideal measurement, perturbs the system leads to al…
Paper I of this series introduced a nonlinear version of quantum mechanics that blocks cats, and paper II postulated a random part of the wavefunction to explain outcomes in experiments such as Stern-Gerlach or EPRB. However, an ad hoc extra parameter was assumed for the randomness. Here I provide some analytic and simulation evidence that the nonlinear theory exhibits sensitive dependence on initial conditions in measurement scenarios, perhaps implying that the magnitude of randomness required is determined by structural features of the model, and does not require a free parameter.
Quantum mechanics imposes a limit on the precision of a continuous position measurement of a harmonic oscillator, as a result of quantum backaction arising from quantum fluctuations in the measurement field. A variety of techniques to surpass this standard quantum limit have been proposed, such as variational measurements, stroboscopic quantum non-demolition and two tone backaction-evading (BAE) measurements. The latter proceed by monitoring only one of the two non-commuting quadratures of the motion. This technique, originally proposed in the context of gravitational wave detection, has not b…
We suggest an interpretation of quantum mechanics, inspired by the ideas of Aharonov et al. of a time-symmetric description of quantum theory. We show that a special final boundary condition for the Universe, may be consistently defined as to determine single classical-like measurement outcomes, thus solving the "measurement problem". No other deviation is made from standard quantum mechanics, and the resulting theory is deterministic (in a two-time sense) and local. Quantum mechanical probabilities are recovered in general, but are eliminated from the description of any single measurement. We…
On the measurement problem in quantum mechanics: a simple proposal
本文提出通过物理实验室假设重新诠释量子力学测量问题，替代传统波函数坍缩公理。
Measurement-induced back action, a direct consequence of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, is the defining feature of quantum measurements. We use quantum measurement theory to analyze the recent experiment of Safavi-Naeini et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 108}, 033602 (2012)], and show that results of this experiment not only characterize the zero-point fluctuation of a near-ground-state nanomechanical oscillator, but also demonstrate the existence of quantum back-action noise --- through correlations that exist between sensing noise and back-action noise. These correlations arise from the q…
The analysis of the model quantum clocks proposed by Aharonov et al. [Phys. Rev. A 57 (1998) 4130 - quant-ph/9709031] requires considering evanescent components, previously ignored. We also clarify the meaning of the operational time of arrival distribution which had been investigated.
The model of weak measurements is applied to various problems, related to the time problem in quantum mechanics. The review and generalization of the theoretical analysis of the time problem in quantum mechanics based on the concept of weak measurements are presented. A question of the time interval the system spends in the specified state, when the final state of the system is given, is raised. Using the concept of weak measurements the expression for such time is obtained. The results are applied to the tunneling problem. A procedure for the calculation of the asymptotic tunneling and reflec…
We establish an objective scheme to determine the macroscopicity of quantum mechanical superposition tests, which is based on the Bayesian hypothesis falsification of macrorealistic modifications of quantum theory. The measure uses the raw data gathered in an experiment, taking into account all measurement uncertainties, and can be used to directly assess any conceivable quantum test. We determine the resulting macroscopicity for three recent tests of quantum physics: double-well interference of Bose-Einstein condensates, Leggett-Garg tests with atomic random walks, and entanglement generation…
The de Broglie - Bohm Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics assigns positions and trajectories to particles. We analyze the validity of a formula for the velocities of Bohmian particles which makes the analysis of these trajectories particularly simple. We apply it to four different types of particle detectors and show that three types of the detectors lead to "surrealistic trajectories", i.e., leave a trace where the Bohmian particle was not present.
In the Copenhagen interpretation the Heisenberg uncertainty relation is interpreted as the mathematical expression of the concept of complementarity, quantifying the mutual disturbance necessarily taking place in a simultaneous or joint measurement of incompatible observables. This interpretation has already been criticized by Ballentine a long time ago, and has recently been challenged in an experimental way. These criticisms can be substantiated by using the generalized formalism of positive operator-valued measures, from which a new inequality can be derived, precisely illustrating the Cope…
We study the use of methods based on the real symplectic groups $Sp(2n,\mathcal{R})$ in the analysis of the Arthurs-Kelly model of proposed simultaneous measurements of position and momentum in quantum mechanics. Consistent with the fact that such measurements are in fact not possible, we show that the observable consequences of the Arthurs-Kelly interaction term are contained in the symplectic transformation law connecting the system plus apparatus variance matrices at an initial and a final time. The individual variance matrices are made up of averages and spreads or uncertainties for single…
Emulating the measurement postulates of quantum mechanics via non-Hermitian Hamiltonian
针对波函数坍缩机制不清的问题，本文提出在测量过程中引入非厄米哈密顿量，使任意态演化到吸引平衡态以模拟测量公设，并在二能级及N能级系统中验证，还以两个非厄米演化的非相干叠加复现Lindblad动力学。
We describe a set of measurement protocols for performing non-classicality tests and the verification of entangled superposition states of macroscopic continuous variable systems, such as nanomechanical resonators. Following earlier works, we first consider a setup where a two-level system is used to indirectly probe the motion of the mechanical system via Ramsey measurements and discuss the application of this methods for detecting non-classical mechanical states. We then show that the generalization of this techniques to multiple resonator modes allows the conditioned preparation and the det…
A scheme for constructing quantum mechanics is given that does not have Hilbert space and linear operators as its basic elements. Instead, a version of algebraic approach is considered. Elements of a noncommutative algebra (observables) and functionals on this algebra (elementary states) associated with results of single measurements are used as primary components of the scheme. On the one hand, it is possible to use within the scheme the formalism of the standard (Kolmogorov) probability theory, and, on the other hand, it is possible to reproduce the mathematical formalism of standard quantum…
Complementarity principle is one of the central concepts in quantum mechanics which restricts joint measurement for certain observables. Of course, later development shows that joint measurement could be possible for such observables with the introduction of a certain degree of unsharpness or fuzziness in the measurement. In this paper, we show that the optimal degree of unsharpness, which guarantees the joint measurement of all possible pairs of dichotomic observables, determines the degree of nonlocality in quantum mechanics as well as in more general no-signaling theories.
We show that the ability to make direct measurements of momentum, in addition to the usual direct measurements of position, allows a simple configuration of two identical mechanical oscillators to be used for broadband back-action-free force metrology. This would eliminate the need for an optical reference oscillator in the scheme of Tsang and Caves [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 123601 (2010)], along with its associated disadvantages. We also show that if one is restricted to position measurements alone then two copies of the same two-oscillator configuration can be used for narrow-band back-action-f…
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