2012/07/30 by Richard Healey, Healey, Richard
Arts and Humanities · Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Philosophy and History of Science #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1207.7105
arxiv created 2012/07/30 · openalex publication_date 2012/07/30 · arxiv updated 2012/08/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
This paper aims to show how adoption of a pragmatist interpretation permits a satisfactory resolution of the quantum measurement problem. The classic measurement problem dissolves once one recognizes that it is not the function of the quantum state to describe or represent the behavior of a quantum system. The residual problem of when, and to what, to apply the Born Rule may then be resolved by judicious appeal to decoherence. This can give sense to talk of measurements of photons and other particles even though quantum field theory does not describe particles.