Applying the Transactional Interpretation to Conceptual Problems in Quantum Theory

近年来，出现了许多悖论，这些悖论提出了一个问题，即根据一个量子系统的理论计算量，如权重和概率，以及最近它的“弱值”-适用于选择前和选择后的系统的时间对称量--可以推断出量子系统的什么。拟议的研究将应用于对这些问题的分析，这是对量子理论的一种被忽视的解释，即John Cramer(1980)的“交互解释”(TI)。德州仪器提出，量子事件是由时空“交易”调节的，时空“交易”由通常的面向未来的(“迟缓的”)波和指向过去的“高级”波之间的一种独特类型的相互作用组成。建议的研究包括将交易模型应用于当前的思维实验，如Hardy的实验(1992)和三态悖论，这两个实验都存在概念上的困难，并调查这种应用如何影响关于此类实验中涉及的系统的本体论的可能结论。拟议中的项目的智力价值在于它直接影响到量子理论解释中的长期问题，特别是测量之间量子系统的本体论状态，在标准的时间不对称方法下，这一点仍然非常模糊。就更广泛的影响而言，该项目还具有历史价值，因为它审查了几十年前一项未得到充分认可的提案。对这种被忽视的解释的研究揭示了它被忽视的原因，以及这些原因告诉我们关于人类对物理理论的期望-即，这样的理论应该对世界假设什么，以及它们应该提供什么样的信息。特别是，人类对因果的时间顺序有一种非常令人信服的直觉，这种直觉往往会限制理论的构建和解释。德州仪器否认了这种直觉。然而，它似乎为量子理论中长期存在的谜题提供了有效的解决方案，比如“波函数崩塌”(确切地说，它是在哪里、何时发生的、如何发生的？)以及测量的问题。如果TI是解释量子理论的正确方式，这意味着人类不需要将过去等同于“已经发生的事情”；过去的某些方面可能仍然可以根据未来的事件而改变。这种理解从根本上改变了人类与其内部和外部经验世界的关系，有可能从基本的智力理解(如解谜)延伸到文化和社会可能性。

In recent years, numerous paradoxes have arisen which raise questions about what can be inferred about a quantum system based on its theoretically calculated quantities, such as weights and probabilities and, more recently, its ``weak values''--- time-symmetric quantities applicable to pre- and post-selected systems. The proposed research would apply to the analysis of these problems a somewhat neglected interpretation of quantum theory, namely the ``Transactional Interpretation'' (TI) of John Cramer (1980). TI proposes that quantum events are mediated by spacetime ``transactions'' consisting of a distinctive type of interaction between the usual future-directed ("retarded") and past-directed, "advanced" waves. The proposed research consists in applying the transactional model to current thought experiments such as Hardy's experiment (1992) and the three-state paradox, both of which present conceptual difficulties, and investigating how this application affects what conclusions are possible concerning the ontology of the systems involved in such experiments. The proposed project's intellectual value lies in its direct bearing on longstanding problems in the interpretation of quantum theory, in particular the ontological status of quantum systems between measurements, which remains deeply obscure under the standard time-asymmetric approach. In terms of broader implications, the project is also of historical value in its examination of an under-recognized proposal of several decades ago. A study of this neglected interpretation sheds light on the reasons for its neglect and on what those reasons tell us about human expectations of physical theories---i.e., what such theories should assume about the world, as well as what kind of information they should provide. In particular, humans have a very compelling intuition about the temporal ordering of cause and effect, and this intuition tends to constrain the construction and interpretation of theories. TI denies that intuition. Yet it appears to offer effective solutions to longstanding puzzles of quantum theory such as ``wave function collapse'' (exactly where/when/how does it occur?) and the problem of measurement. If TI is the correct way to interpret quantum theory, this implies that humans need not view the past as equivalent to ``what has already happened''; certain aspects of the past might remain open to change based on future events. Such an understanding radically changes the relationship of humans to their world of experience, both inner and outer, in a way that has the potential to extend beyond basic intellectual understanding (as in puzzle-solving) to cultural and societal possibilities.