Weekly Papers on Quantum Foundations (28)

This is a list of this week’s papers on quantum foundations published in the various journals or uploaded to the preprint servers such as arxiv.org and PhilSci Archive.

The Paraconsistent Approach to Quantum Superpositions Reloaded: Formalizing Contradictiory Powers in the Potential Realm

PhilSci-Archive: No conditions. Results ordered -Date Deposited.

on 2015-7-10 6:28pm GMT

da Costa, Newton C. A. and de Ronde, Christian (2015) The Paraconsistent Approach to Quantum Superpositions Reloaded: Formalizing Contradictiory Powers in the Potential Realm. [Preprint]

From aether impulse to QED: Sommerfeld and the Bremsstrahlen theory

ScienceDirect Publication: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics

on 2015-7-09 10:40pm GMT

Publication date: August 2015
Source:Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, Volume 51
Author(s): Michael Eckert
The radiation that is due to the braking of charged particles has been in the focus of theoretical physics since the discovery of X-rays by the end of the 19th century. The impact of cathode rays in the anti-cathode of an X-ray tube that resulted in the production of X-rays led to the view that X-rays are aether impulses spreading from the site of the impact. In 1909, Arnold Sommerfeld calculated from Maxwell׳s equations the angular distribution of electromagnetic radiation due to the braking of electrons. He thereby coined the notion of “Bremsstrahlen.” In 1923, Hendrik A. Kramers provided a quantum theoretical explanation of this process by means of Bohr׳s correspondence principle. With the advent of quantum mechanics the theory of bremsstrahlung became a target of opportunity for theorists like Yoshikatsu Sugiura, Robert Oppenheimer, and–again–Sommerfeld, who presented in 1931 a comprehensive treatise on this subject. Throughout the 1930s, Sommerfeld׳s disciples in Munich and elsewhere extended and improved the bremsstrahlen theory. Hans Bethe and Walter Heitler, in particular, in 1934 presented a theory that was later regarded as “the most important achievement of QED in the 1930s” (Freeman Dyson). From a historical perspective the bremsstrahlen problem may be regarded as a probe for the evolution of theories in response to revolutionary changes in the underlying principles.

Quantization and Quantum-Like Phenomena: A Number Amplitude Approach

Latest Results for International Journal of Theoretical Physics

on 2015-7-08 12:00am GMT

Abstract

Historically, quantization has meant turning the dynamical variables of classical mechanics that are represented by numbers into their corresponding operators. Thus the relationships between classical variables determine the relationships between the corresponding quantum mechanical operators. Here, we take a radically different approach to this conventional quantization procedure. Our approach does not rely on any relations based on classical Hamiltonian or Lagrangian mechanics nor on any canonical quantization relations, nor even on any preconceptions of particle trajectories in space and time. Instead we examine the symmetry properties of certain Hermitian operators with respect to phase changes. This introduces harmonic operators that can be identified with a variety of cyclic systems, from clocks to quantum fields. These operators are shown to have the characteristics of creation and annihilation operators that constitute the primitive fields of quantum field theory. Such an approach not only allows us to recover the Hamiltonian equations of classical mechanics and the Schrödinger wave equation from the fundamental quantization relations, but also, by freeing the quantum formalism from any physical connotation, makes it more directly applicable to non-physical, so-called quantum-like systems. Over the past decade or so, there has been a rapid growth of interest in such applications. These include, the use of the Schrödinger equation in finance, second quantization and the number operator in social interactions, population dynamics and financial trading, and quantum probability models in cognitive processes and decision-making. In this paper we try to look beyond physical analogies to provide a foundational underpinning of such applications.

The Physics and Metaphysics of Primitive Stuff

The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science – Advance Access

on 2015-7-07 1:31pm GMT

The article sets out a primitive ontology of the natural world in terms of primitive stuff—that is, stuff that has as such no physical properties at all—but that is not a bare substratum either, being individuated by metrical relations. We focus on quantum physics and employ identity-based Bohmian mechanics to illustrate this view, but point out that it applies all over physics. Properties then enter into the picture exclusively through the role that they play for the dynamics of the primitive stuff. We show that such properties can be local (classical mechanics), as well as holistic (quantum mechanics), and discuss two metaphysical options to conceive them, namely, Humeanism and modal realism in the guise of dispositionalism.

  • 1 Introduction
  • 2 Primitive Ontology: Primitive Stuff
  • 3 The Physics of Matter as Primitive Stuff
  • 4 The Humean Best System Analysis of the Dynamical Variables
  • 5 Modal Realism about the Dynamical Variables
  • 6 Conclusion

Quantum mechanics on York slices. (arXiv:1507.01556v1 [gr-qc])

gr-qc updates on arXiv.org

on 2015-7-07 1:35am GMT

Authors: Philipp Roser

For some time the York time parameter has been identified as a candidate for a physically meaningful time in cosmology. An associated Hamiltonian may be found by solving the Hamiltonian constraint for the momentum conjugate to the York time variable, although an explicit solution can only be found in highly symmetric cases. The Poisson structure of the remaining variables is not canonical. Here we quantise this dynamics in an anisotropic minisuperspace model via a natural extension of canonical quantisation. The resulting quantum theory has no momentum representation. Instead the position basis takes a fundamental role. We illustrate how the quantum theory and the modified representation of its momentum operators lead to a consistent theory in the presence of the constraints that arose during the Hamiltonian reduction. We are able to solve for the eigenspectrum of the Hamiltonian. Finally we discuss how far the results of this model extend to the general non-homogeneous case, in particular perturbation theory with York time.

Defining the Observed World in Quantum Mechanics. (arXiv:1507.01102v1 [quant-ph])

quant-ph updates on arXiv.org

on 2015-7-07 1:35am GMT

Authors: Hitoshi Inamori

This paper defines what constitutes the Observed World in the Quantum Mechanical framework, based strictly on what is actually observed beyond doubt, instead of building observables on what is inferred from actual observations. Such principle narrows down considerably what can be considered as being part of the Observed World. On the other hand, we argue that some information – that is in general assumed as granted – should actually be considered as being part of the Observed World. We discuss the implications of such assertion, in the way we perceive time evolution, information growth and causality.

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