The Measurement Problem from the Perspective of an Information-Theoretic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
The aim of this paper is to consider the consequences of an information-theoretic interpretation of quantum mechanics for the measurement problem. The motivating idea of the interpretation is that the relation between quantum mechanics and the structure of information is analogous to the relation be...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2015-10-01
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| Series: | Entropy |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/17/11/7374 |
| _version_ | 1798035127961387008 |
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| author | Jeffrey Bub |
| author_facet | Jeffrey Bub |
| author_sort | Jeffrey Bub |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The aim of this paper is to consider the consequences of an information-theoretic interpretation of quantum mechanics for the measurement problem. The motivating idea of the interpretation is that the relation between quantum mechanics and the structure of information is analogous to the relation between special relativity and the structure of space-time. Insofar as quantum mechanics deals with a class of probabilistic correlations that includes correlations structurally different from classical correlations, the theory is about the structure of information: the possibilities for representing, manipulating, and communicating information in a genuinely indeterministic quantum world in which measurement outcomes are intrinsically random are different than we thought. Part of the measurement problem is deflated as a pseudo-problem on this view, and the theory has the resources to deal with the remaining part, given certain idealizations in the treatment of macrosystems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:53:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9dbf94184a3047ea95ce85a0a10710b2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1099-4300 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:53:56Z |
| publishDate | 2015-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Entropy |
| spelling | doaj.art-9dbf94184a3047ea95ce85a0a10710b22022-12-22T04:03:46ZengMDPI AGEntropy1099-43002015-10-0117117374738610.3390/e17117374e17117374The Measurement Problem from the Perspective of an Information-Theoretic Interpretation of Quantum MechanicsJeffrey Bub0Philosophy Department, University of Maryland, College Park 20742, MD, USAThe aim of this paper is to consider the consequences of an information-theoretic interpretation of quantum mechanics for the measurement problem. The motivating idea of the interpretation is that the relation between quantum mechanics and the structure of information is analogous to the relation between special relativity and the structure of space-time. Insofar as quantum mechanics deals with a class of probabilistic correlations that includes correlations structurally different from classical correlations, the theory is about the structure of information: the possibilities for representing, manipulating, and communicating information in a genuinely indeterministic quantum world in which measurement outcomes are intrinsically random are different than we thought. Part of the measurement problem is deflated as a pseudo-problem on this view, and the theory has the resources to deal with the remaining part, given certain idealizations in the treatment of macrosystems.http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/17/11/7374quantum informationmeasurement probleminformation-theoretic interpretation |
| spellingShingle | Jeffrey Bub The Measurement Problem from the Perspective of an Information-Theoretic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics Entropy quantum information measurement problem information-theoretic interpretation |
| title | The Measurement Problem from the Perspective of an Information-Theoretic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics |
| title_full | The Measurement Problem from the Perspective of an Information-Theoretic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics |
| title_fullStr | The Measurement Problem from the Perspective of an Information-Theoretic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Measurement Problem from the Perspective of an Information-Theoretic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics |
| title_short | The Measurement Problem from the Perspective of an Information-Theoretic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics |
| title_sort | measurement problem from the perspective of an information theoretic interpretation of quantum mechanics |
| topic | quantum information measurement problem information-theoretic interpretation |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/17/11/7374 |
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