Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Including decoherence in the quantum mechanical description does not dissolve the measurement problem — the composite system of electron, apparatus, and environment is still left in a superposition of distinct outcome states.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Decoherence produces a reduced density matrix for the apparatus that is diagonal in the pointer basis, making off-diagonal interference terms negligibly small.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.For all practical purposes, a density matrix indistinguishable from a proper mixture of definite outcomes is physically equivalent to a classical probability distribution over those outcomes.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.If no empirically accessible quantity can distinguish a superposition from a mixture, the 'remaining superposition' is operationally vacuous and cannot constitute a measurement problem.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.On the Everett interpretation, as developed by Deutsch and Wallace, decoherence defines the branching structure that determines what counts as a distinct classical world.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.The measurement problem as traditionally stated presupposes a single definite outcome must be selected from the superposition, but this presupposition is itself a substantive interpretive commitment, not a logical necessity.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.If decoherence explains why observers within each branch invariably experience definite outcomes, the claim that a 'measurement problem persists' merely reasserts the rejection of many-worlds rather than identifying a residual formal problem.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Decoherence describes interactions in which differently localised states of the apparatus couple to different states of the environment.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.By the same linearity arguments that apply to the electron-apparatus system, the composite of electron, apparatus, and environment evolves into a superposition: one branch corresponding to the environment coupling to the apparatus registering spin +1/2, and another branch corresponding to the environment coupling to the apparatus registering spin -1/2.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Adding the environment to the description does not break the linearity of the Schrödinger equation, so superposition persists at the larger composite level.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.