Protective Measurement and Quantum Reality: Towards a New Understanding of Quantum Mechanics

Cambridge University Press, 1/22/2015
EAN 9781107069633, ISBN10: 1107069637

Hardcover, 250 pages, 25.4 x 17.8 x 1.6 cm
Language: English

Protective measurements offer an intriguing method for measuring the wave function of a single quantum system. With contributions from leading physicists and philosophers of physics - including two of the original discoverers of this important method - this book explores the concept of protective measurement, investigating its broad applications and deep implications. Addressing both physical and philosophical aspects, it covers a diverse range of topics, including experimental possibility of protective measurements, connections with the PBR theorem, and the implications of protective measurements for understanding the nature of quantum reality. Including a clear and concise introduction to standard quantum mechanics, conventional measurements, and the fundamentals of protective measurements, this is a valuable resource for graduate students and researchers interested in the conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics.

1. Protective measurements
an introduction Shan Gao
Part I. Fundamentals and Applications
2. Protective measurements of the wave function of a single system Lev Vaidman
3. Protective measurement, postselection and the Heisenberg representation Yakir Aharonov and Eliahu Cohen
4. Protective and state measurement
a review Gennaro Auletta
5. Determination of the stationary basis from protective measurement on a single system Lajos Diósi
6. Weak measurements, the energy-momentum tensor and the Bohm approach Robert Flack and Basil J. Hiley
Part II. Meanings and Implications
7. Measurement and metaphysics Peter J. Lewis
8. Protective measurements and the explanatory gambit Michael Dickson
9. Realism and instrumentalism about the wave function
how should we choose? Mauro Dorato and Frederico Laudisa
10. Protective measurements and the PBR theorem Guy Hetzroni and Daniel Rohrlich
11. The roads not taken
empty waves, waveform collapse and protective measurement in quantum theory Peter Holland
12. Implications of protective measurements on de Broglie–Bohm trajectories Aurelien Drezet
13. Entanglement, scaling, and the meaning of the wave function in protective measurement Maximilian Schlosshauer and Tangereen V. B. Claringbold
14. Protective measurements and the nature of the wave function within the primitive ontology approach Vincent Lam
15. Reality and meaning of the wave function Shan Gao
Index.