The Quantum Measurement Problem: Collapse of the Wave Function Explained

11 Pages Posted: 20 Jan 2017

Date Written: January 20, 2017

Abstract

Quantum physicists have made many attempts to solve the quantum measurement problem, but no solution seems to have received widespread acceptance. The time has come for a new approach. In Sense Perception and Reality: A Theory of Perceptual Relativity, Quantum Mechanics and the Observer Dependent Universe and in a new paper The End of Realism I suggest the quantum measurement problem is caused by a failure to understand that each species has its own sensory world and that when we say the wave function collapses and brings a particle into existence we mean the particle is bought into existence in the human sensory world by the combined operation of the human sensory apparatus, particle detectors and the experimental set up. This is similar to the Copenhagen Interpretation suggested by Niels Bohr and others, but the understanding that the collapse of the wave function brings a particle into existence in the human sensory world removes the need for a dividing line between the quantum world and the macro world. The same rules can apply to both worlds and the ideas stated in this paper considerably strengthen the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum mechanics.

Keywords: Quantum Measurement Problem, Quantum Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Theory, Copenhagen Interpretation, Many Worlds Interpretation, Niels Bohr, Sensory Worlds, Sensory Apparatus, Quantum Particles, Collapse of Wave Function, Existence, Reality, Reduction of the Wave Packet

JEL Classification: A00

Suggested Citation

Forrester, Rochelle, The Quantum Measurement Problem: Collapse of the Wave Function Explained (January 20, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2901820 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2901820

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