The Tausk Controversy on the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics: Physics, Philosophy, and Politics

Pessoa, Osvaldo; Freire, Olival; Greiff, Alexis De

doi:10.1007/s00016-007-0347-1

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 47 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The publication of the paper by Daneri, Loinger and Prosperi in early sixties induced a hot debate on the measurement problem; see [188] for a historical outline. We shall not attempt to review this debate here, but only mention one aspect of it: Tausk (see [188] for a description of his unpublished work) and later on Jauch, Wigner and Yanase [189] criticize the approach by Daneri, Loinger and Prosperi via the argument of an interaction free measurement.…”

Section: Ergodic Theory Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We shall not attempt to review this debate here, but only mention one aspect of it: Tausk (see [188] for a description of his unpublished work) and later on Jauch, Wigner and Yanase [189] criticize the approach by Daneri, Loinger and Prosperi via the argument of an interaction free measurement. This type of measurements is first discussed by Renninger [190].…”

Section: Ergodic Theory Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Understanding quantum measurement from the solution of dynamical models

Allahverdyan¹,

Balian²,

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The quantum measurement problem, to wit, understanding why a unique outcome is obtained in each individual experiment, is currently tackled by solving models. After an introduction we review the many dynamical models proposed over the years for elucidating quantum measurements. The approaches range from standard quantum theory, relying for instance on quantum statistical mechanics or on decoherence, to quantum-classical methods, to consistent histories and to modifications of the theory. Next, a flexible and rather realistic quantum model is introduced, describing the measurement of the z-component of a spin through interaction with a magnetic memory simulated by a Curie-Weiss magnet, including N 1 spins weakly coupled to a phonon bath. Initially prepared in a metastable paramagnetic state, it may transit to its up or down ferromagnetic state, triggered by its coupling with the tested spin, so that its magnetization acts as a pointer. A detailed solution of the dynamical equations is worked out, exhibiting several time scales. Conditions on the parameters of the model are found, which ensure that the process satisfies all the features of ideal measurements. Various imperfections of the measurement are discussed, as well as attempts of incompatible measurements. The first steps consist in the solution of the Hamiltonian dynamics for the spin-apparatus density matrixD(t). Its off-diagonal blocks in a basis selected by the spin-pointer coupling, rapidly decay owing to the many degrees of freedom of the pointer. Recurrences are ruled out either by some randomness of that coupling, or by the interaction with the bath. On a longer time scale, the trend towards equilibrium of the magnet produces a final stateD(t f ) that involves correlations between the system and the indications of the pointer, thus ensuring registration. AlthoughD(t f ) has the form expected for ideal measurements, it only describes a large set of runs. Individual runs are approached by analyzing the final states associated with all possible subensembles of runs, within a specified version of the statistical interpretation. There the difficulty lies in a quantum ambiguity: There exist many incompatible decompositions of the density matrixD(t f ) into a sum of sub-matrices, so that one cannot infer from its sole determination the states that would describe small subsets of runs. This difficulty is overcome by dynamics due to suitable interactions within the apparatus, which produce a special combination of relaxation and decoherence associated with the broken invariance of the pointer. Any subset of runs thus reaches over a brief delay a stable state which satisfies the same hierarchic property as in classical probability theory; the reduction of the state for each individual run follows. Standard quantum statistical mechanics alone appears sufficient to explain the occurrence of a unique answer in each run and the emergence of classicality in a measurement process. Finally, pedagogical exercises are proposed and lessons for future works on m...

show abstract

Section: Ergodic Theory Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ergodic Theory Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding quantum measurement from the solution of dynamical models

Allahverdyan¹,

Balian²,

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Está fora do escopo deste trabalho revisar essa disputa e seus subprodutos, o que tem sido objeto de outros trabalhos (FREIRE, 2007;PESSOA;FREIRE;DE GREIFF, 2008). Nossa discussão pode, contudo, concluir que, pela primeira vez na história da mecânica quântica, uma cisão apareceu não entre os apoiadores da ortodoxia na interpretação dessa teoria e seus críticos, mas entre os apoiadores do que era então considerada a ortodoxia sobre o tema.…”

Section: Uma Cisão Dentro Da Ortodoxia -Wigner E Rosenfeld 15unclassified

“…Wigner apoiou Zeh, mesmo não concordando com sua abordagem, como já vimos, e o mesmo pode ser dito do seu apoio a Shimony, na medida em que este era cético em relação à conjectura mentalista de Wigner. Rosenfeld tratava como não merecedoras de consideração qualquer visão conflitante com a posição de Bohr (FREIRE, 2005;JACOBSEN, 2007;OSNAGHI;FREIRE, 2009;PESSOA;FREIRE;DE GREIFF, 2008 (D'ESPAGNAT, 1965(D'ESPAGNAT, , 1976. No CERN ele se aproximou de Bell quando ambos reconheceram que partilhavam o mesmo interesse em fundamentos da Teoria Quântica.…”

Section: Uma Cisão Dentro Da Ortodoxia -Wigner E Rosenfeld 15unclassified

Dissidentes quânticos: pesquisa em fundamentos da teoria quântica em torno de 1970

Freire¹

2011

Teoria Quântica: Estudos Históricos E Implicações Culturais

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Bell knew the Tausk affair. The case is described in Pessoa, Freire, and De Greiff (2005). 7 Aspect (2002, p. 119 Pauling] mythic quality.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Philosophy enters the optics laboratory: Bell's theorem and its first experimental tests (1965–1982)

Freire

2006

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper deals with the ways that the issue of completing quantum mechanics was brought into laboratories and became a topic in mainstream quantum optics. It focuses on the period between 1965, when the Bell published what we now call Bell's theorem, and 1982, when Aspect published the results of his experiments. Discussing some of those past contexts and practices, I show that factors in addition to theoretical innovations, experiments, and techniques were necessary for the flourishing of this subject, and that the experimental implications of Bell's theorem were neither suddenly recognized nor quickly highly regarded by physicists. Indeed, I will argue that what was considered good physics after Aspect's 1982 experiments was once considered by many a philosophical matter instead of a scientific one, and that the path from philosophy to physics required a change in the physics community's attitude about the status of the foundations of quantum mechanics.

show abstract

The Tausk Controversy on the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics: Physics, Philosophy, and Politics

Cited by 10 publications

References 47 publications

Understanding quantum measurement from the solution of dynamical models

Understanding quantum measurement from the solution of dynamical models

Dissidentes quânticos: pesquisa em fundamentos da teoria quântica em torno de 1970

Philosophy enters the optics laboratory: Bell's theorem and its first experimental tests (1965–1982)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About