Dynamical reduction models

By Angelo Bassi, G. Ghirardi. 2003

754 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract The report presents an exhaustive review of the recent attempt to overcome the difficulties that standard quantum mechanics meets in accounting for the measurement (or macro-objectification) problem, an attempt based on the consideration of nonlinear and stochastic modifications of the Schrodinger equation. The proposed new dynamics is characterized by the feature of not contradicting any known fact about microsystems and of accounting, on the basis of a unique, universal dynamical principle, for wavepacket reduction and for the classical behavior of macroscopic systems. We recall the motivations for the new approach and we briefly review the other proposals to circumvent the above mentioned difficulties which appeared in the literature. In this way we make clear the conceptual and historical context characterizing the new approach. After having reviewed the mathematical techniques (stochastic differential calculus) which are essential for the rigorous and precise formulation of the new dynamics, we discuss in great detail its implications and we stress its relevant conceptual achievements. The new proposal requires also to work out an appropriate interpretation; a procedure which leads us to a reconsideration of many important issues about the conceptual status of theories based on a genuinely Hilbert space description of natural processes. Attention is also paid to many problems which are naturally raised by the dynamical reduction program. In particular we discuss the possibility and the problems one meets in trying to develop an analogous formalism for the relativistic case. Finally we discuss the experimental implications of the new dynamics for various physical processes which should allow, in principle, to test it against quantum mechanics. The review covers the work which has been done in the last 15 years by various scientists and the lively debate which has accompanied the elaboration of the new proposal.

Subfields: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics, Mathematical Physics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/96d08e9069fbc39ab53a2c09d701603e12ff215d

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In Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

In Mathematical Physics

Citations in the corpus

Models of Wave-function Collapse, Underlying Theories, and Experimental Tests (2012, methodology): “It sets a quantum-classical threshold at ∼ 1013 nucleons (Bassi and Ghirardi, 2003; Ghirardi et al., 1990c).”
On the Common Structure of Bohmian Mechanics and the Ghirardi–Rimini–Weber Theory (2006, background): “All rights reserved. doi:10.1093/bjps/axn012 For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org Advance Access published on July 11, 2008”
Introduction to decoherence theory (2006, background): “in [4, 5], and useful reviews by W. H. ZurekandJ. P.Pazcanbe foundin [6,7].This chapterdealsexclusively with conventional, i.e. environmental decoherence, as opposed to spontaneous reduction theories [8], which aim at “solving the measurement problem of quantum mechanics” by modifying the Schr¨oding”
Decoherence, the measurement problem, and interpretations of quantum mechanics (2003, methodology): “The basic idea of physical collapse theories is to introduce an explicit modification of the Schrödinger time evolution to achieve a physical mechanism for statevector reduction (for an extensive recent review, see Bassi and Ghirardi, 2003).”
A strong no-go theorem on the Wigner’s friend paradox (2019, neutral): “[12] Bassi, A.”
Lower and upper bounds on CSL parameters from latent image formation and IGM heating (2006, methodology): “Stochastic modifications of the Schrödinger equation have been intensively studied as models for objective state vector reduction [1].”
A Relativistic Version of the Ghirardi–Rimini–Weber Model (2004, neutral): “J. S. Bell in Ref.”
Dynamics of non-Markovian open quantum systems (2015, methodology): “Stochastic Schrödinger equations were introduced in the context of dynamical reduction models (Bassi and Ghirardi, 2003; Ghirardi et al., 1990, 1986; Pearle, 1976, 1989).”
Colloquium: Quantum interference of clusters and molecules (2011, background): “While most of the suggested models provide at most rough estimates of the critical mass range, the theory of Continuous Spontaneous Localization (CSL) by Ghirardi et al. (1990) has been extensively studied (Bassi and Ghirardi, 2003) and yields quantitative predictions.”
Do We Really Understand Quantum Mechanics? (2012, background): “For general or historical reviews on collapse and dynamical reduction theories, see [705] and [678].”
The Schrödinger–Newton equation and its foundations (2014, background): “The reason why no superluminal effects appear in collapse models [37–42] is that the nonlinear modification is balanced by appropriate stochastic contributions.”