- #1
soothsayer
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I've been reading up on the ensemble interpretation (aka statistical interpretation) of QM and it's making a bit more sense to me that it did on the onset, but I still have some questions about how it is consistent with experimental observations of various QM experiments, especially "single-particle" experiments.
My understanding is that the basic tenant of the ensemble interpretation (EI) is that the wavefunction is not a real physical entity, nor a property that describes a single particle/quantum state, but rather applies only to an "ensemble" of identically prepared systems. This explains why the interference pattern from the double-slit experiment can only be seen after many repetitions, for example (you cannot determine which pattern you are looking at from just a single result). By what mechanism does EI consider that individual particles obey the wavefunction of their respective "ensembles"? How does EI incorporate the impact of making measurements, if the wavefunction "collapse" is thought to be purely mathematical? By what mechanism does this occur, if not some sort of pilot wave theory? If the wavefunction cannot be applied to individual particles, what explains the quantum uncertainty of their position, momentum, etc? What does it mean for a particle to be in a superposition of various eigenstates?
Is there any reading you would recommend to help supplement my understanding of what ensemble interpretation advocates are trying to argue about the nature of the particle and the wavefunction in QM?
Thanks!
My understanding is that the basic tenant of the ensemble interpretation (EI) is that the wavefunction is not a real physical entity, nor a property that describes a single particle/quantum state, but rather applies only to an "ensemble" of identically prepared systems. This explains why the interference pattern from the double-slit experiment can only be seen after many repetitions, for example (you cannot determine which pattern you are looking at from just a single result). By what mechanism does EI consider that individual particles obey the wavefunction of their respective "ensembles"? How does EI incorporate the impact of making measurements, if the wavefunction "collapse" is thought to be purely mathematical? By what mechanism does this occur, if not some sort of pilot wave theory? If the wavefunction cannot be applied to individual particles, what explains the quantum uncertainty of their position, momentum, etc? What does it mean for a particle to be in a superposition of various eigenstates?
Is there any reading you would recommend to help supplement my understanding of what ensemble interpretation advocates are trying to argue about the nature of the particle and the wavefunction in QM?
Thanks!