The two-spin enigma: from the helium atom to quantum ontology

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2406.05169v2
• Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2024 07:47:59 GMT
• Title: The two-spin enigma: from the helium atom to quantum ontology
• Authors: Philippe Grangier, Alexia Auffeves, Nayla Farouki, Mathias Van Den Bossche, Olivier Ezratty,
• Abstract summary: We will show that it perfectly fits with empirical evidence, and can be maintained without giving up physical realism. We will start from experimentally based evidence in order to analyse and explain physical facts, moving cautiously from a classical to a quantum description, without mixing them up. The overall picture will be that the physical properties of microscopic systems are quantized, as initially shown by Planck and Einstein, and they are also contextual, i.e. that they can be given a physical sense only by embedding a microscopic system within a macroscopic measurement context.
• Score: 1.6777183511743472
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: The purpose of this article is to provide a novel approach and justification of the idea that classical physics and quantum physics can neither function nor even be conceived one without the other - in line with ideas attributed to e.g. Niels Bohr or Lev Landau. Though this point of view may go against current common wisdom, we will show that it perfectly fits with empirical evidence, and can be maintained without giving up physical realism. In order to place our arguments in a convenient historical perspective, we will proceed as if we were following the path of a police investigation, about the demise, or vanishing, of some valuable properties of the two electrons in the helium atom. We will start from experimentally based evidence in order to analyse and explain physical facts, moving cautiously from a classical to a quantum description, without mixing them up. The overall picture will be that the physical properties of microscopic systems are quantized, as initially shown by Planck and Einstein, and they are also contextual, i.e. that they can be given a physical sense only by embedding a microscopic system within a macroscopic measurement context.

Related papers

• Postulating the Unicity of the Macroscopic Physical World [0.0]
  We argue that the unicity of the macroscopic world is a fundamental postulate of physics, rather than an issue that must be mathematically justified or demonstrated. This is made possible by using general operator algebras to extend the mathematical description of the physical world towards macroscopic systems.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-10-09T19:21:36Z)
• Perspectival Quantum Realism [0.0]
  We argue that the problems identified by QBism and Quantum Pragmatism do not necessitate abandoning the ideal of representing the physical world. We can avail ourselves of the same puzzle-solving strategies as employed by QBists and pragmatists by adopting a emphperspectival quantum realism
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-11-10T16:23:54Z)
• Schr\"odinger cat states of a 16-microgram mechanical oscillator [54.35850218188371]
  The superposition principle is one of the most fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. Here we demonstrate the preparation of a mechanical resonator with an effective mass of 16.2 micrograms in Schr"odinger cat states of motion. We show control over the size and phase of the superposition and investigate the decoherence dynamics of these states.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-11-01T13:29:44Z)
• Quantum realism: axiomatization and quantification [77.34726150561087]
  We build an axiomatization for quantum realism -- a notion of realism compatible with quantum theory. We explicitly construct some classes of entropic quantifiers that are shown to satisfy almost all of the proposed axioms.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-10-10T18:08:42Z)
• A microscopic derivation of the quantum measurement postulates [0.0]
  We show that by applying unitary evolution to large systems, one can derive all the features of quantum measurement. We set out to demonstrate this claim, using a simple and explicit model of a quantum experiment.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-07-02T02:19:58Z)
• Quantum indistinguishability through exchangeable desirable gambles [69.62715388742298]
  Two particles are identical if all their intrinsic properties, such as spin and charge, are the same. Quantum mechanics is seen as a normative and algorithmic theory guiding an agent to assess her subjective beliefs represented as (coherent) sets of gambles. We show how sets of exchangeable observables (gambles) may be updated after a measurement and discuss the issue of defining entanglement for indistinguishable particle systems.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-05-10T13:11:59Z)
• A realistic model for completing Quantum Mechanics [0.0]
  In Copenhagen the physical objects and the experimental results can be described only in a macroscopic language. The measurement problem is at the center of these difficulties, mainly because it requires the introduction of the reduction process of the wave function. We build up and propose a model which is able to solve the measurement problem and all the other difficulties which, in a way or in another, are related to it.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-04-26T16:41:41Z)
• 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)
• The Dilemma of Quantum Individuality Beyond Particle Metaphysics [0.0]
  It is commonly claimed that quantum mechanics makes reference to a microscopic realm constituted by elementary particles. It is not at all clear what these quantum particles really are.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-04-15T20:25:04Z)
• Quantum Hall phase emerging in an array of atoms interacting with photons [101.18253437732933]
  Topological quantum phases underpin many concepts of modern physics. Here, we reveal that the quantum Hall phase with topological edge states, spectral Landau levels and Hofstadter butterfly can emerge in a simple quantum system. Such systems, arrays of two-level atoms (qubits) coupled to light being described by the classical Dicke model, have recently been realized in experiments with cold atoms and superconducting qubits.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-03-18T14:56:39Z)
• Entropic Uncertainty Relations and the Quantum-to-Classical transition [77.34726150561087]
  We aim to shed some light on the quantum-to-classical transition as seen through the analysis of uncertainty relations. We employ entropic uncertainty relations to show that it is only by the inclusion of imprecision in our model of macroscopic measurements that we can prepare a system with two simultaneously well-defined quantities.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-03-04T14:01:17Z)

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.