A “garden of forking paths” – The quantum mechanics of histories of events

Philippe Blanchard (Faculty of Physics, University of Bielefeld, Universitätsstr. 25, Bielefeld, D-33615, Germany) ; Jürg Fröhlich (Theoretical Physics, ETH Zurich, Wolfgang Pauli Strasse 27, Zurich, CH-8093, Switzerland) ; Baptiste Schubnel (SBB, Swiss Federal Railways, Wylerpark, Bern, CH-3014, Switzerland)

This is a survey of a novel approach, called “ ETH approach ”, to the quantum theory of events happening in isolated physical systems and to the effective time evolution of states of systems featuring events. In particular, we attempt to present a clear explanation of what is meant by an “event” in quantum mechanics and of the significance of this notion. We then outline a theory of direct (projective) and indirect observations or recordings of physical quantities and events. Some key ideas underlying our general theory are illustrated by studying a simple quantum-mechanical model of a mesoscopic system.

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Published on:
12 April 2016
Publisher:
Elsevier
Published in:
Nuclear Physics B (2016)

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nuclphysb.2016.04.010