Foundations of Quantum Mechanics

In You Are the Universe, the contemplative endocrinologist Deepak Chopra and the MIT physicist Menas Kafatos offer a groundbreaking, lucid work on consciousness that is refreshingly accessible without relying upon mathematical language or overspecialized jargon. In summary, their book is a serious attempt to address the fundamental contemporary question, “Is the universe made of matter that learned to think, or is the universe made of mind that created matter?” (Chopra & Kafatos, 2017, p. 154). By the end of the book Chopra and Kafatos have gone so far as to argue that not only is the universe created and sustained by an underlying mind but that we are the universe, we are that mind. In a real sense, they declare, we as an organic species have co-created this universe.

"Michel Weber et Pierfrancesco Basile (sous la direction de), Chromatikon III. Annuaire de la philosophie en procès — Yearbook of Philosophy in Process, Louvain-la-Neuve, Presses universitaires de Louvain, 2007. (300 p. ; ISBN 978-2-8746-3083-5 ; 23 € ; http://www.i6doc.com/fr/livre/?GCOI=28001100028210 ; http://www.i6doc.com/en/livre/?GCOI=28001100028210; http://www.i6doc.com/doc/chromatikon3 & http://www.i6doc.com/doc/chromatikon3-eng)

Table
Michel Weber, Avant-Propos & Foreword
I. Séminaires de recherche — Research Seminars
Pierfrancesco Basile, The Reality of Forms
Jean-Marie Breuvart, Husserl et Whitehead, sur l’Intentionnalité
Didier Debaise, Life and Orders
Ronny Desmet, The Rebirth of the Ether
Guillaume Durand, Les objets perceptuels du Professeur Whitehead
Franck Robert, Penser la couleur avec Process and Reality
Xavier Verley, Sentir : Whitehead et Merleau-Ponty
II. Etudes critiques — Critical Studies
Jean-Pascal Alcantara, Le rôle des mathématiques dans la genèse whiteheadienne
Une Sœur de Saint-Jean, Un Principe que les religions appellent « Dieu »
Laura Ilinescu, Vérité et pouvoir dans le Léviathan de Thomas Hobbes
Marc Maesschalck, Raison et événement chez Jean Ladrière
Pierre Montebello, Nietzsche, une philosophie de la nature
Michel Weber, Contact Made Vision: The Apocryphal Whitehead
III. Comptes rendus — Critical Reviews
Stéphan Galetic : James, Essais d’empirisme radical
Ronny Desmet : Lacoste Lareymondie, Une philosophie pour la physique quantique
IV. Informations réticulaires — Reticular News
Discussion: David Ray Griffin, A Reply to Alexander Cockburn
Notes : Peter H. Hare, On Gertrude Stein and Mathematical Logic
Interview : Carlo Sini, Luca Gaeta and Luca Vanzago, The Milano School
Tribute: Leemon McHenry, T.L.S. Sprigge, the Last Idealist
Séminaires — Seminars
Publications
Table des matières — Table of Contents
"

The charged quantum geometry of mass-ENERGY-Matter - developed from the foundational postulate that quantised angular momenta of Planck's constant is in fact reflective of an equilateral mass-energy geometry from which all 2d immaterial EM fields and 3D material particles are created.

Contextuality and entanglement are valuable resources for quantum computing and quantum information. Bell inequalities are used to certify entanglement; thus, it is important to understand why and how they are violated. Quantum mechanics and behavioral sciences teach us that random variables measuring the same content (the answer to the same Yes or No question) may vary, if measured jointly with other random variables. Alice and Bob raw data confirm Einsteinian non-signaling, but setting dependent experimental protocols are used to create samples of coupled pairs of distant outcomes and to estimate correlations. Marginal expectations, estimated using these final samples, depend on distant settings. Therefore, a system of random variables measured in Bell tests is inconsistently connected and it should be analyzed using a Contextuality-by-Default approach, what is done for the first time in this paper. The violation of Bell inequalities and inconsistent connectedness may be explained...

The fundamental holographic principle is first proposed, then demonstrated in its validity and viability through a thought experiment and then finally derived. The Heisenberg uncertainty relations are shown to follow from this fundamental relation. The quantum blackhole entropy is then demonstrated using this holographic uncertainty relation along with the application of the Landauer’s principle for the thermodynamic erasure of a bit yielding a formula with a logarithmic correction. The blackhole entropy is found to be half the value normally delivered by any other method. So, it is proposed that there is a real relevant physical horizon at the twice the Schwarzschild radius dubbed the holographic information geometric horizon.

While the slogan "no measurement without disturbance" has established itself under the name Heisenberg effect in the consciousness of the scientifically interested public, a precise statement of this fundamental feature of the quantum world has remained elusive, and serious attempts at rigorous formulations of it as a consequence of quantum theory have led to seemingly conflicting preliminary results. Here we show that despite recent claims to the contrary [Rozema et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 100404 (2012)], Heisenberg-type inequalities can be proven that describe a trade-off between the precision of a position measurement and the necessary resulting disturbance of momentum (and vice versa). More generally, these inequalities are instances of an uncertainty relation for the imprecisions of any joint measurement of position and momentum. Measures of error and disturbance are here defined as figures of merit characteristic of measuring devices. As such they are state independent, each giving worst-case estimates across all states, in contrast to previous work that is concerned with the relationship between error and disturbance in an individual state.

Reports on experiments recently performed in Vienna [Erhard et al., Nature Phys. 8, 185 (2012)] and Toronto [Rozema et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 100404 (2012)] include claims of a violation of Heisenberg's error-disturbance relation. In contrast, we have presented and proven a Heisenberg-type relation for joint measurements of position and momentum [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 160405 (2013)]. To resolve the apparent conflict, we formulate here a general trade-off relation for errors in qubit measurements, using the same concepts as we did in the position-momentum case. We show that the combined errors in an approximate joint measurement of a pair of ±1-valued observables A,B are tightly bounded from below by a quantity that measures the degree of incompatibility of A and B. The claim of a violation of Heisenberg is shown to fail because it is based on unsuitable measures of error and disturbance. Finally we show how the experiments mentioned may directly be used to test our error inequality.

In this paper we have tried to deduce the possible origin of particle and evolution of their intrinsic properties through spiral dynamics. We consider some of the observations which include exponential mass function of particles following a sequence when fitted on logarithmic potential spiral, inwardly rotating spiral dynamics in Reaction-Diffusion System, the separation of Electron’s Spin-Charge-Orbit into quasi-particles. The paper brings a picture of particles and their Anti Particles in spiral form and explains how the difference in structure varies their properties. It also explains the effects on particles in Accelerator deduced through spiral dynamics.

Quantum entanglement, a term coined by Erwin Schrodinger in 1935, is a mechanical phenomenon at the quantum level wherein the quantum states of two (or more) particles have to be described with reference to each other though these particles may be spatially separated. This phenomenon leads to paradox and has puzzled us for a long time. The behaviour of entangled particles is apparently inexplicable, incomprehensible and like magic at work. Locality has been a reliable and fruitful principle which has guided us to the triumphs of twentieth century physics. But the consequences of the local laws in quantum theory could seem "spooky" and nonlocal, with some theorists questioning locality itself. Could two subatomic particles on opposite sides of the universe be really instantaneously connected? Is any theory which predicts such a connection essentially flawed or incomplete? Are the results of experiments which demonstrate such a connection being misinterpreted? These question...

En este ensayo nos ocuparemos del problema de la “indistinguibilidad cuántica”. El mismo puede formularse en pocas palabras: al parecer, las entidades cuánticas pueden ser distintas sólo número.  Es decir, la ‘Ley de Leibniz’ es presumiblemente falsa en el dominio cuántico.  Mi intención en este ensayo es ofrecer una reformulación del problema. Tal reformulación supone el abandono de la perspectiva usual sobre la naturaleza ontológica de los sistemas cuánticos. La argumentación se desarrolla en dos líneas: argumentaremos, por un lado, que con una lectura ontológica inadecuada la “indistinguibilidad cuántica” puede presentarse en el mundo clásico; por otro, que esto sólo puede evitarse con  una caracterización correcta de los sistemas a los que se pretende aplicar el Principio de Leibniz. De lo primero se darán ejemplos basados en consideraciones de simetría. Para lo segundo, haremos uso de la caracterización de sistema que provee la Interpretación Modal Hamiltoniana de Castagnino & Lombardi.

This survey treats the Hilbert Book Model Project. The project concerns a well-founded, purely mathematical model of physical reality. The project relies on the conviction that physical reality owns its own kind of mathematics and that this mathematics guides and restricts the extension of the foundation to more complicated levels of the structure and the behavior of physical reality. This results in a model that more and more resembles the physical reality that humans can observe.

The solid experimental evidence for the violation of Bell's inequalities is widely interpreted as a definitive proof of the impossibility to describe quantum phenomena in terms of a local and realistic statistical model of hidden variables in which the observers are free to choose the settings of their measurements. In this paper we note, however, that Bell's theorem for the singlet polarization state of two entangled particles relies crucially on a fourth implicit theoretical assumption, in addition to the explicit hypotheses of locality, physical realism and 'free will'. Namely, we note that the proof of Bell's inequalities for generic models of hidden variables implicitly assumes that there exists an absolute reference frame of angular coordinates, with respect to which we can define the polarization properties of the hidden configurations of the pair of entangled particles as well as the orientation of the measurement apparatus that test them. This implicit additional assumption, however, is not required by any fundamental physical principle and, indeed, it might be incorrect if the hidden configuration of the pair of entangled particles breaks the global rotational symmetry along an otherwise arbitrary direction. We explicitly show that by giving up to this additional implicit assumption it is possible to build a local and realistic model of hidden variables for Bell's polarization states of two particles, which complies with the demands of 'free-will' and fully reproduces the quantum mechanical predictions. The model presented here offers a new insight into the notion of quantum entanglement and the role of measurements in the dynamics of quantum systems. It may help also to develop new tools for performing numerical simulations of quantum systems.

Delayed-choice experiments in quantum mechanics are often taken to undermine a realistic interpretation of the quantum state. More specifically, Healey has recently argued that the phenomenon of delayed-choice entanglement swapping is incompatible with the view that entanglement is a physical relation between quantum systems. This paper argues against these claims. It first reviews two paradigmatic delayed-choice experiments and analyzes their metaphysical implications. It then applies the results of this analysis to the case of entanglement swapping, showing that such experiments pose no threat to realism about entanglement.

It has been stated that "nobody understands Quantum Mechanics". That is no longer the case. The concerned reader is invited to share the viewpoint of the author while reading this note and then stay sharing it during, say, one day. Meanwhile reflect on what he/she really knows about QM, and then decide: Either take a fresh look at Physics or go back to Quantism. Below "quantum system" usually signifies the standard wave mechanical quantum model of the hydrogen atom.

Quantum Field Theory (QFT) posits that there are several fields (electro-magnetic, gravitational, Higgs) that permeate space throughout the universe.  A disturbance in one of those fields causes a wave of energy to be generated.  In the QFT view, everything we see and experience is a wave that is spread out like a cloud – there are no particles with a fixed location in space and a distinct boundary.  The author of this paper aims at unifying particles and waves, matter and energy.  This unification is suggested in Einstein’s famous formula, E=MC2 and deBroglie’s matter-wave theory. A particle of matter is defined as compressed energy that has a definite locality and involves inherently high potential energy but lower kinetic energy.  A wave of energy is defined as a rhythmic high speed, fine particles which are spread out like a cloud without a distinct location and firm boundaries.  Such a unification shows how quantum energy can make the transformation from waves to particles, energy to matter, from micro to macro matter and from quantum to classical.  The transition from energy to matter can be seen in the various states of matter from quanta to plasma to gas to liquid to solid.  If E=MC2 is correct, then the basic unit of mattergy (matter-energy) is the quantum.  Perhaps this is what Democritus had in mind when he envisioned the indivisible unit of matter.

A more correct way to understand De Broglie in terms of equivalence instead of duality. We regard two things to be equivalent if they are quantitatively identical while being qualitatively different. This definition is not given in the actual paper. I'll give a more rigorous definition like this in subsequent works. Thanks.

It is argued that the components of the superposed wave function of a measuring device, each of which represents a definite measurement result, do not correspond to many worlds, one of which is our world, as assumed by the many-worlds interpretation, because all components of the wave function can be observed in our world by protective measurement, and they all exist in this world.

The theory of dual numerical means of random and experienced variables is briefly described in the framework of the new theory of experience and the chance that arises as an axiomatic synthesis of two dual theories — the Kolmogorov theory of probability and the theory of believability. A new term is introduced for the numerical mean of the experienced variable — mathematical reflection, which is dual to the mathematical expectation of a random variable within the framework of the new theory. The basic properties and examples of dual numerical means are considered.

Dorst recently concludes that the measurement problem of standard quantum mechanics (SQM) dissolves if we accept Humeanism about laws of nature. In this Comment, I argue that his analysis of the so-called nomological gaps of SQM is seriously flawed, and a more complete analysis does not support his conclusion.

A superluminal quantum-vortex model of the electron and the positron is produced from a superluminal double-helix model of the photon during electron-positron pair production. The two oppositely-charged (with Q = ±e sqrt (2/α) = 16.6e) open-helix spin-½ half-photons compose the double-helix photon. These half-photons separate and curl up their separated superluminal single-helical trajectories to form an electrically-charged superluminal closed-helix spin-½ quantum-vortex electron model and a corresponding positron model. The helical radius and the Dirac equation's zitterbewegung angular frequency of the quantum vortex electron and positron models equal the helical radius and zitterbewegung angular frequency of the two spin-½ half-photons, each of energy E = mc^2 , that composed the double-helix photon model of energy E = 2mc^2 from which the electron and positron models were produced. The photon and electron models are also compatible when a photon of energy E > 2mc^2 produces a relativistic electron-positron pair. Implications of the quantum vortex electron model for electron stability are discussed.

In this paper we review Castagnino's contributions to the foundations of quantum mechanics. First, we recall his work on quantum decoherence in closed systems, and the proposal of a general framework for decoherence from which the phenomenon acquires a conceptually clear meaning. Then, we introduce his contribution to the hard field of the interpretation of quantum mechanics: the modal-Hamiltonian interpretation solves many of the interpretive problems of the theory, and manifests its physical relevance in its application to many traditional models of the practice of physics. In the third part of this work we describe the ontological picture of the quantum world that emerges from the modal-Hamiltonian interpretation, stressing the philosophical step toward a deep understanding of the reference of the theory.

I know about the universe because it influences me.  Light excites the photoreceptors in my eyes, surfaces apply pressure to my touch receptors and my eardrums are buffeted by relentless waves of air molecules.  My entire sensorium is excited by all that surrounds me.  These experiences are all I have ever known, and for this reason, they comprise my reality.
This essay considers a simple model of observers that are influenced by the world around them.  Consistent quantification of information about such influences results in a great deal of familiar physics.  The end result is a new perspective on relativistic quantum mechanics, which includes both a way of conceiving of spacetime as well as particle “properties” that may be amenable to a unification of quantum mechanics and gravity.  Rather than thinking about the universe as a computer, perhaps it is more accurate to think about it as a network of influences where the laws of physics derive from both consistent descriptions and optimal information-based inferences made by embedded observers.

Founding conscious mind's quantum collapse phenomenal reality

QM Foundation and discovery: The quantum collapse of the wave function to the relative observation of conscious consciousness is first-hand evidence of the direct "natural" impact of our mind on phenomenal “reality”: do you mind?

Fondare la realtà fenomenica del collasso quantico dalla mente cosciente

MQ Fondamento e scoperta: il collasso quantistico della formazione d'onda all'osservazione relativa della coscienza cosciente è la prova di prima mano dell'impatto diretto "naturale" della nostra mente nella realtà fenomenologica: ti dispiace?

The true test of entanglement is not Bell’s inequalities which is founded upon faulty assumptions.  The true test is whether so-called entangled particles can affect each other at a distance. To demonstrate this, one particle must be changed and the other must change accordingly to manifest inverse correlation.  Furthermore, particles must follow the rules of entanglement, the main one being that particles must be oriented in such a way as to follow conservation laws, such as Conservation of angular momentum.  In the case of electrons, the particles must be 180-degrees apart (spin up/spin down) relative to each other.  There is some debate about how photons obey conservation of angular momentum.  Some say that they must be 180-degrees apart in polarization like electrons, and others say that they must be 90-degrees apart.  Those who favor 90-degree separation argue that a light wave vibrates in opposite directions so that a wave polarized at 0 is also polarized at 180 as it vibrates back and forth on the same axis.

The University of Cologne and the international community of researchers in foundations of physics mourn the loss of Peter Mittelstaedt, who passed away on November 21, 2014, after a short period of illness. Peter Mittelstaedt held a chair in theoretical physics at the University of Cologne from 1965 until his retirement in 1995. In addition to his engagement as a scientist and academic teacher he was elected first as Dean of the Faculty of Science (1968–1969) and then Rector of the University of Cologne (1970–1971). Subsequently he served as Prorector (1971–1973) and Prorector for Research (1991–1994). He was an elected member of l’Académie Internationale de Philosophie des Sciences and founding member and president of the International Quantum Structures Association (1994–1996).Peter Mittelstaedt was born in Leipzig on November 24, 1929. In his childhood home he may already have witnessed the spirit of philosophical discourse about the world-picture of modern physics. For Werner Heis ...

Quantum physicists have made many attempts to solve the quantum measurement problem, but no solution seems to have received widespread acceptance. The time has come for a new approach. In Sense Perception and Reality: A Theory of Perceptual Relativity, Quantum Mechanics and the Observer Dependent Universe and in a new paper The End of Realism I suggest the quantum measurement problem is caused by a failure to understand that each species has its own sensory world and that when we say the wave function collapses and brings a particle into existence we mean the particle is bought into existence in the human sensory world by the combined operation of the human sensory apparatus, particle detectors and the experimental set up. This is similar to the Copenhagen Interpretation suggested by Niels Bohr and others, but the understanding that the collapse of the wave function brings a particle into existence in the human sensory world removes the need for a dividing line between the quantum world and the macro world. The same rules can apply to both worlds and the ideas stated in this paper considerably strengthen the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum mechanics.

The principal issues concerning the foundations of physics are how to solve the puzzle of the apparent discrepancy between the theoretical frameworks of classical spacetime physics and quantum microphysics as well as, in particular, how to clarify the meaning of the notion of a ʻmechanical stateʼ. I argue that the element that constantly produces the so-called quantum paradoxes is a straightforward, classical, i.e. nonrelational and noncontextual interpretation of a quantum state, which at a single point makes almost all quantum effects, such as the delayed-choice entanglement swapping, classically deviant or obscure. Quantum theory, above all, demands a radical generalization of the principle of relativity, and the relational quantum events (q-events) are extremely different from the classical non-relational (spacetime) c-events. However, this theoretical shift is hard to implement without significant remodelling of the ontological convictions concerning the preferred interpretation of mechanics itself, which is commonly founded on the invariant ʻelements of realityʼ (evolving-in-time atomic states of affairs) scheme and substantialist imagery. This is a strong argument in favor of structural approaches in fundamental physics and a purely time-symmetric formulation of quantum mechanics.

The No-communication Theorem has been seen as the bar to communication by quantum state collapse. The essence of this theory is the procedure of taking the partial trace on an entangled, hence inseparable multi-particle system. This mathematical procedure applied unthinkingly, strikes out the off-diagonal elements from the ensemble density matrix and renders the reduced trace matrix representative of a mixed state. Decoherence theory is able to justify this mathematical procedure and we review it to show: the partial trace results for both unitary and non-unitary processes (hence measurement) on one, several or all particles of the ensemble; and that a unitary process keeps interference terms in the trace reduced matrix.

In-principle restrictions on the amount of information that can be gathered about a system have been proposed as a foundational principle in several recent reconstructions of the formalism of quantum mechanics. However, it seems unclear precisely why one should be thus restricted. We investigate the notion of paradoxical self-reference as a possible origin of such epistemic horizons by means of a fixed-point theorem in Cartesian closed categories due to F. W. Lawvere that illuminates and unifies the different perspectives on self-reference.