Quantum Mechanics Without Measurements – Robert Griffiths

Date: Thu. September 18th, 2014, 4:15 pm-5:15 pm
Location: Rockefeller 301

In standard (textbook) quantum mechanics, “measurement” provides an essential link between the formalism and its physical interpretation, but physical measurements cannot be analyzed in fully quantum mechanical terms (the infamous “measurement problem”). The (consistent or decoherent) histories interpretation employs fundamental quantum principles that apply universally to all quantum processes, including measurements, but make no reference to “measurement” as a fundamental concept. This approach provides a resolution of all the standard quantum enigmas (double slit, wave function collapse, etc.) as well as resolving the quantum measurement problem. The talk will provide an overview of the histories approach and indicate some of the objections to it.