- #1
JustinLevy
- 895
- 1
I am really having trouble understanding some parts of quantum mechanics. Maybe I am thinking about it wrong, or maybe these issues are resolved in more advanced formulations... but I am learning non relativistic quantum mechanics, and the postulates seem contradictory to me.
I really dislike the measurement postulate of quantum mechanics for the following reasons:
- everything in quantum mechanics is deterministic except for that
- it is added ad hoc, and puts the measurement device outside of the quantum mechanics formulism
- it says the wavefunction collapses to an eigenvector of the operator corresponding to the observable being measured ... but does not describe HOW it collapses (does it collapse all at once / simultaneously, or the collapse starts at one point and \"ripples outward\", etc?)
So, can someone please help me understand this feature of quantum mechanics?
And, has anyone tried to formulate QM without this postulate (ie describe the measuring device quantum mechanically and show that somehow the equivalent to the measurement postulate happens as a natural consquence of the other postulates?). If so, I would be interested in reading up on this. Can anyone point me to some good textbooks (or publications) that show how the measurement postulate can be removed? The textbook we are using (Griffiths) is not helping me much here.
Thank you very much.
I really dislike the measurement postulate of quantum mechanics for the following reasons:
- everything in quantum mechanics is deterministic except for that
- it is added ad hoc, and puts the measurement device outside of the quantum mechanics formulism
- it says the wavefunction collapses to an eigenvector of the operator corresponding to the observable being measured ... but does not describe HOW it collapses (does it collapse all at once / simultaneously, or the collapse starts at one point and \"ripples outward\", etc?)
So, can someone please help me understand this feature of quantum mechanics?
And, has anyone tried to formulate QM without this postulate (ie describe the measuring device quantum mechanically and show that somehow the equivalent to the measurement postulate happens as a natural consquence of the other postulates?). If so, I would be interested in reading up on this. Can anyone point me to some good textbooks (or publications) that show how the measurement postulate can be removed? The textbook we are using (Griffiths) is not helping me much here.
Thank you very much.
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