2024/04/19 by Simon Saunders, Saunders, Simon · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Classical Physics (physics.class-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #History and Philosophy of Physics (physics.hist-ph) #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2404.12954
openalex publication_date 2024/04/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
I show that frequentism, as an explanation of probability in classical statistical mechanics, can be extended in a natural way to a decoherent quantum history space, the analogue of a classical phase space. The result is a form of finite frequentism, in which the Gibbs concept of an infinite ensemble of gases is replaced by the quantum state expressed as a superposition of a finite number of decohering microstates. It is a form of finite and actual (as opposed to hypothetical) frequentism insofar as all the microstates exist, even though they may differ macroscopically, in keeping with the decoherence-based Everett interpretation of quantum mechanics.