B What Should You Research About Uncaused Quantum Events and Their Implications?

[sayetsu]

I want to do some research on the subject. What sorts of things should I look into?

Not looking for religious comments on uncaused causes. ;)

 

[Khashishi]

spontaneous emission
radioactive decay
We can't predict when they occur, only the probability.

 

[sayetsu]

Thank you!

 

[PeterDonis]

I want to do some research on the subject.

What is the subject? "Uncaused quantum events" is vague; there is no such terminology in the actual theory of quantum mechanics. What in particular are you trying to research?

 

[sayetsu]

I don't know what it's called! Just anything in QM with no discernible cause. I've heard there are such things.

 

[phyzguy]

As khashishi suggested, radioactive decay is a good example. When an unstable nucleus decays, there is no known cause, it just does.

 

[PeterDonis]

anything in QM with no discernible cause

What's your definition of "discernible cause"?

When an unstable nucleus decays, there is no known cause, it just does.

This is true of any quantum process. So is any other reasonably obvious interpretation of "no discernible cause". So I don't understand what particular subset of quantum processes the OP is trying to ask about.

 

[ZapperZ]

I've heard there are such things.

Where did you hear such things?

Zz.

 

[atyy]

https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=f4nuexsNVZIC&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Causality by Judea Pearl

Pearl's book includes comments about quantum mechanics.

Quantum mechanics violates local causality - this is the content of Bell's theorem.

https://arxiv.org/abs/1503.06413
Causarum Investigatio and the Two Bell's Theorems of John Bell
Howard M. Wiseman, Eric G. Cavalcanti

Wood and Spekkens talk about the relationship between Pearl's work and quantum mechanics.

https://arxiv.org/abs/1208.4119
The lesson of causal discovery algorithms for quantum correlations: Causal explanations of Bell-inequality violations require fine-tuning
Christopher J. Wood, Robert W. Spekkens

 

[sayetsu]

Will look. Thanks.

 

[atyy]

As summarized by Wiseman and Cavalcanti, the violation of a Bell inequality implies "operational" randomness. Because randomness is needed by certain crytographic algorithms, some people have proposed quantum random number generators that are certified by a Bell inequality.

https://arxiv.org/abs/0911.3427
Random Numbers Certified by Bell's Theorem
S. Pironio, A. Acin, S. Massar, A. Boyer de la Giroday, D. N. Matsukevich, P. Maunz, S. Olmschenk, D. Hayes, L. Luo, T. A. Manning, C. Monroe