How the Many Worlds Interpretation brings Common Sense to Paradoxical Quantum Experiments

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2202.01438v1
• Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2022 07:09:00 GMT
• Title: How the Many Worlds Interpretation brings Common Sense to Paradoxical Quantum Experiments
• Authors: Kelvin J. McQueen and Lev Vaidman
• Abstract summary: Many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics (MWI) states that the world we live in is just one among many parallel worlds. It is widely believed that because of this commitment to parallel worlds, the MWI violates common sense. This is despite its myriad of advantages to physics.
• Score: 0.0
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: The many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics (MWI) states that the world we live in is just one among many parallel worlds. It is widely believed that because of this commitment to parallel worlds, the MWI violates common sense. Some go so far as to reject the MWI on this basis. This is despite its myriad of advantages to physics (e.g. consistency with relativity theory, mathematical simplicity, realism, determinism, etc.). Here, we make the case that common sense in fact favors the MWI. We argue that causal explanations are commonsensical only when they are local causal explanations. We present several quantum mechanical experiments that seem to exhibit nonlocal "action at a distance". Under the assumption that only one world exists, these experiments seem immune to local causal explanation. However, we show that the MWI, by taking all worlds together, can provide local causal explanations of the experiments. The MWI therefore restores common sense to physical explanation.

Related papers

• Decoherence by warm horizons [12.14598582153305]
  We map the DSW set-up onto a worldline-localized model resembling an Unruh-DeWitt particle detector. We show that the Unruh effect is the only quantum mechanical effect underlying these random forces.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-05-01T18:39:00Z)
• On playing gods: The fallacy of the many-worlds interpretation [0.0]
  We present a methodological argument to refute the so-called many-worlds interpretation (MWI) of quantum theory. We show, in fact, that a whole class of theories--of which MWI is a prime example--fails to satisfy some basic tenets of science which we call facts about natural science.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-11-06T19:08:24Z)
• Why the Many-Worlds Interpretation? [0.0]
  It is argued that the MWI is the only interpretation which removes action at a distance and randomness from quantum theory. Some speculations about misconceptions, which apparently prevent the MWI to be in the consensus, are mentioned.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-08-09T09:23:50Z)
• Experimental refutation of real-valued quantum mechanics under strict locality conditions [15.98149438495762]
  Physicists describe nature using mathematics as the natural language, and for quantum mechanics, it prefers to use complex numbers. Recently, it has been shown that a three-party correlation created in entanglement swapping scenarios cannot be reproduced using only real numbers. Our results violate the real number bound of 7.66 by 5.30 standard deviations, hence rejecting the universal validity of the real-valued quantum mechanics to describe nature.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-01-11T20:00:17Z)
• Why interference phenomena do not capture the essence of quantum theory [0.0]
  Quantum interference phenomena are widely viewed as posing a challenge to the classical worldview. We show that such conclusions are not, in fact, forced on us by basic interference phenomena. We do so by describing an alternative to quantum theory, a statistical theory of a classical discrete field.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-11-26T19:27:53Z)
• Consistency in the description of quantum measurement: Quantum theory can consistently describe the use of itself [8.122270502556372]
  I propose a slight addition to standard textbook quantum mechanics, in the form of two rules, which avoids the paradox. The first specifies when a given quantum dynamics can be interpreted as a measurement. The second requires that a joint context be used to determine whether several different dynamical evolutions can all be interpreted as measurement.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-07-05T18:00:15Z)
• The Time-Evolution of States in Quantum Mechanics [77.34726150561087]
  It is argued that the Schr"odinger equation does not yield a correct description of the quantum-mechanical time evolution of states of isolated (open) systems featuring events. A precise general law for the time evolution of states replacing the Schr"odinger equation is formulated within the so-called ETH-Approach to Quantum Mechanics.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-01-04T16:09:10Z)
• Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics: A Paradoxical Picture [0.0]
  The many-worlds interpretation (MWI) of quantum mechanics is studied from an unprecedented ontological perspective. It is demonstrated that with thanks to the uncertainty principle there would be no consistent way to specify the correct ontology of the Universe.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-11-27T08:42:09Z)
• Operational Resource Theory of Imaginarity [48.7576911714538]
  We show that quantum states are easier to create and manipulate if they only have real elements. As an application, we show that imaginarity plays a crucial role for state discrimination.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-07-29T14:03:38Z)
• Non-Boolean Hidden Variables model reproduces Quantum Mechanics' predictions for Bell's experiment [91.3755431537592]
  Theory aimed to violate Bell's inequalities must start by giving up Boolean logic. "Hard" problem is to predict the time values when single particles are detected. "Soft" problem is to explain the violation of Bell's inequalities within (non-Boolean) Local Realism.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-05-20T21:46:35Z)
• Reformulating Bell's Theorem: The Search for a Truly Local Quantum Theory [0.0]
  Bell's "no-go" theorem rests on three axioms, local causality, no superdeterminism, and one world. We show that by assuming local causality and no superdeterminism, we can give a direct proof of many worlds. We identify a local many worlds interpretation that replaces the wave function with a separable Lorentz-invariant wave-field.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-03-06T19:05:37Z)

This list is automatically generated from the titles and abstracts of the papers in this site.

This site does not guarantee the quality of this site (including all information) and is not responsible for any consequences.