Special Relativity and the Measurement Problem of QM

[User2022]

Given what we know about special relativity and its implication for time and the observer, could this in any way be linked to why the isolated processes of QM are exhibiting everything happening at once and then collapsing to classical physics when bigger objects interact - the measurement problem?

Special relativity prescripes that there is no objective time frame, it's all dependent on the observer. The particles of QM exhibit exactly that when there is no measurement.

It doesn't account for why there is an (apparent) wave function collapse, but it could explain why a particle is everwhere at once when isolated?

 

[Nugatory]

Special relativity prescribes that there is no objective time frame, it's all dependent on the observer.

You are misunderstanding how special relativity works (a very forgivable misunderstanding if you haven't been learning from a serious textbook). There is an unambiguous and objective model of time that just happens to be different than our classical intuition. Searching this forum for threads on the difference between "proper time" and "coordinate time" would be a good start, as would be working through Taylor and Wheeler's textbook "Spacetime Physics".

It doesn't account for why there is an (apparent) wave function collapse, but it could explain why a particle is everywhere at once when isolated?

The apparent (and that adjective is important!) wave function collapse has been well understood for some decades. Google for "quantum decoherence", or give David Lindley's book "Where does the weirdness go?" a try.

Quantum mechanics does not say that "a particle is everywhere at once", it doesn't ever say anything about where the particle is. It tells us the probability of detecting a particle at a particular location if we choose to look for it there - but the idea of "particle position" (as opposed to "detector right there just triggered") simply doesn't appear in the mathematical formalism. Again, this is one of the things that is best understood by working through a proper textbook and taking on the math; Giancarlo Ghirardi's book "Sneaking a look at god's cards" is as close to a layman-friendly explanation as I know.

(Also, please be mindful of the forum rule about posting personal speculation and new theories that have not been published in an appropriate peer-reviewed journal).

 

[User2022]

Quantum mechanics does not say that "a particle is everywhere at once",

It does too, in isolated states.

 

[User2022]

There is an unambiguous and objective model of time that just happens to be different than our classical intuition.

Forgive me for thinking that time frame is relative to the speed of the observer.

 

[Nugatory]

It does too, in isolated states.

Can you cite any valid source (that is a college-level QM textbook or peer-reviewed journal article) supporting that statement?

Forgive me for thinking that time frame is relative to the speed of the observer.

Well, “time frame” isn’t a generally accepted term for anything (same comment about valid sources applies if you disagree), but it is true that the time values that we assign to remote events (that is, statements of the form “X happened at the same time that this clock read T”) depend on our choice of reference frame. These are the “coordinate times” that I mentioned above, and they have no physical significance, they’re just computational aids. Proper time, the physical quantity that a clock measures like a ruler measures distance, is unaffected by speed.

 

[vanhees71]

It does too, in isolated states.

No, quantum mechanics does not say a particle is at several places at one time. It's saying that there is a probability density for its position. The subject most distorted by popular-science writing is quantum theory!

 

[CoolMint]

It does too, in isolated states.

It's better to say the respective quantum field that gives rise to the particle in question can be regarded as being everywhere at once.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I don't think that's useful. All fields have values at all places and times. Nothing special quantum-y.