Quantum Measurement at the Mimit? Idealization, Emergence, and Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

米米特的量子测量？

• 批准号: 0620002
• 负责人: Chuang Liu
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-11-01 至 2008-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0620002&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Quantum; Measurement; Mimit; Idealization; Emergence

Project Summary The intellectual merit of this proposal is to argue for a new solution to the measurementproblem (MP): a solution under the idealization of macroscopic limit (ML). MP is one of the mainproblems, if not the problem, at the foundations of physics. Because this is the last, and the mostimportant, part of my multi-stage effort that in the past six or so years has produced works on thenature of idealization and approximation, of model-building, of thermodynamic limit, of phasetransitions and critical phenomena, of laws of nature, and of classical and quantum spontaneoussymmetry breaking (SSB), some of which are supported by a previous NSF grant (No. SES-9910889), its results, apart from their own merit, will validate and improve on results in those areas.This final project may be seen as a test and showcase of my previous contributions to philosophy ofscience. The difficulty of MP centers on an apparent contradiction between what theorieshypothesize happens at the micro-level and what happens at the macro-level. All existing attempts tosolve the problem make what seems to be an inescapable assumption that all systems involved are offinite number of degrees of freedom (or finite). But finite quantum systems harbor ineliminatablesuperpositional effects, just as all finite thermo-systems harbor fluctuations; and such effects seem tomake a rigorous solution of MP impossible. I propose that we drop the assumption. There is asound and rigorous mathematical way (the algebraic approach) to imagine, with properly taken limits,that the systems involved are of infinite number of degrees of freedom (or infinite). Moreover, SSBis only possible under ML, and it can be used to replace the notion of the 'collapse' of wave functionsin the orthodox formulation. The broader impacts of this project are many-fold. Given its nature,this project will mainly produce research papers (and possibly a monograph) and lectures or talks toaudiences of both experts and general public interested in philosophy and physics. Because theproject tackles MP, the arguably single most important problems in the foundations of physics, thereverberation of its results is far-reaching. Historians of quantum physics and of the revolution ofmodern physics will find the spirit of the proposed solution closer to the views of the founders ofquantum physics (Bohr et al and the Copenhagen school). Researchers interested in the symbioticrelationships between disciplines of science will find it interesting to see how a recalcitrant orthodoxposition in quantum physics -- the Hilbert-space approach -- is unseated (if I am right) by results insolid state physics; or how the 'foundation' of quantum physics is shaken by models in solid state (amuch less fundamental and hence neglected area in foundational studies). A solution to MP thatchallenges the prevailing bias in the conception of quantum physics should open the door for newpossibilities in the field, which should get the attention of theoretical physicists and mathematicians.Every effort will be made to incorporate the results into my teaching, to give talks at the communitycollege at Jacksonville and at nearby universities of north and central Florida, as well as atprofessional meetings and colloquia here and abroad.

这个建议的智力价值是为测量问题（MP）提出一个新的解决方案：在宏观极限（ML）的理想化下的解决方案。在物理学的基础上，MP是一个主要的问题，如果不是问题的话。因为这是我多阶段努力的最后一部分，也是最重要的一部分，在过去的六年左右的时间里，我的多阶段努力产生了关于理想化和近似、模型建立、热力学极限、相变和临界现象、自然定律以及经典和量子自发对称破缺（SSB）的性质的作品，其中一些是由以前的NSF基金（编号SES-9910889）支持的，它的结果，除了它们本身的优点，将验证和改进这些领域的结果。MP的困难集中在一个明显的矛盾之间的理论假设发生在微观层面和发生在宏观层面。所有现有的解决这个问题的尝试似乎都不可避免地假设所有涉及的系统都是有限的自由度（或有限的）。但是，有限量子系统具有不可消除的涨落位置效应，就像所有有限热系统都具有涨落一样;这种效应似乎使MP的严格解成为不可能。我建议我们放弃这个假设。有一种可靠而严格的数学方法（代数方法），在适当的限制下，可以想象所涉及的系统具有无限多个自由度（或无限大）。此外，SSB仅在ML下才是可能的，并且它可以用来取代正统公式中的波函数“坍缩”概念。该项目的广泛影响是多方面的。鉴于其性质，该项目将主要产生研究论文（可能还有专著），并向对哲学和物理学感兴趣的专家和公众进行讲座或谈话。由于该项目解决了MP问题，可以说是物理学基础中最重要的问题，因此其结果的发表意义深远。量子物理学和现代物理学革命的历史学家们会发现，所提出的解决方案的精神更接近量子物理学创始人（玻尔等人和哥本哈根学派）的观点。对科学学科之间的共生关系感兴趣的研究人员会发现有趣的是，量子物理学中一个不受欢迎的正统观点--希尔伯特空间方法--是如何被固态物理学的结果所取代的（如果我是对的）;或者量子物理学的“基础”是如何被固态模型所动摇的（这是一个不那么基础的，因此在基础研究中被忽视的领域）。一个挑战量子物理概念中普遍存在的偏见的MP解决方案应该为该领域的新可能性打开大门，这应该引起理论物理学家和数学家的注意。我将尽一切努力将结果纳入我的教学，在杰克逊维尔的社区学院和附近的佛罗里达北部和中部的大学发表演讲，以及国内外的专业会议和学术讨论会。