Bibliographic Citation
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Title | Measurement and quasi-states in quantum mechanics |
Creator/Author | Harper, C.D. |
Publication Date | 1987 Jan 01 |
OSTI Identifier | OSTI ID: 5300276 |
Resource Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
Resource Relation | Thesis (Ph. D.) |
Research Org | Illinois Univ., Urbana (USA) |
Subject | 657002 -- Theoretical & Mathematical Physics-- Classical & Quantum Mechanics; QUANTUM MECHANICS-- MATHEMATICAL LOGIC; COMMUTATION RELATIONS;PROJECTION OPERATORS;VECTORS |
Related Subject | MATHEMATICAL OPERATORS;MECHANICS;TENSORS |
Description/Abstract | Part of the task of quantum logic is to account for the collapse of the state vector during measurement.^A difficulty in this is that it is not obvious how to describe measurement quantum mechanically as the interaction of two or more systems; interacting quantum-mechanical systems do not possess states, so their states cannot collapse.^This dissertation shows that component systems of a composite system possess families of state-like vectors.^These are the quasi-projections of the state vector of the composite system, each associated with a family of commutable observables.^Often these quasi-projections cluster so closely around a quasi-state that they are practically indistinguishable from it.^A description of measurement based on quasi-projections reveals the apparent collapse of the state vector during measurement to be illusory.^The continuous evolution of the state of the composite system give rise to abrupt changes in the quasi-projections which make it appear that the state has changed.^The quasi-projections cease to cluster near one quasi-state, are momentarily scattered, and then cluster again near another quasi-state.^The concept of quasi-projection is also used to generalize the quantum logic of Birkhoff and von Neumann in such a fashion that a proposition can always be assigned a truth value. |
Publisher | Univ. of Illinois,Urbana-Champaign, IL |
Country of Publication | United States |
Language | English |
Format | Pages: 97 |
Availability | University Microfilms Order No. 87-11,805. |
System Entry Date | 2001 May 13 |
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