Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4hhp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-23T10:40:37.964Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Remarks on the Direction of Time in Quantum Mechanics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Meir Hemmo
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

I argue that in the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics time has no fundamental direction. I further discuss a way to recover thermodynamics in this interpretation using decoherence theory (Zurek and Paz 1994). Albert's proposal to recover thermodynamics from the collapse theory of Ghirardi et al. (1986) is also considered.

Type
Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 70 , Issue 5: Proceedings of the 2002 Biennial Meeting of The Philosophy of Science Association. Part I: Contributed Papers , December 2003 , pp. 1458 - 1471
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

‡

I thank David Albert, Frank Arntzenius, Guido Bacciagaluppi, Jeremy Butterfield, Itamar Pitowsky, Orly Shenker, and Professor Dieter Zeh for helpful comments on issues related to this paper.

References

Aharonov, Yakir, Bergman, Peter G., and Lebowitz, Joel L. (1964), “Time Symmetry in the Quantum Process of Measurement”, Time Symmetry in the Quantum Process of Measurement B 134:1410–1416.Google Scholar
Aharonov, Yakir, and Vaidman, Lev (1991), “Complete Description of a Quantum System at a Given Time”, Complete Description of a Quantum System at a Given Time A 24:2315–2328.Google Scholar
Albert, David (2000), Time and Chance. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Arntzenius, Frank (1997), “Mirrors and the Direction of Time”, Mirrors and the Direction of Time 64:S213–S222.Google Scholar
Arntzenius, Frank (1998), “Curiouser and Curiouser: A Personal Evaluation of Modal Interpretations”, in Dieks and Vermaas (1998), 337–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bacciagaluppi, Guido (2001), “Remarks on Space-time and Locality in Everett's Interpretation”. Proceedings of the workshop on Modality, Probability, and Bell's Theorems, Cracow, 19–23 August 2001, forthcoming by Kluwer.Google Scholar
Bacciagaluppi, Guido, and Hemmo, Meir (1995), “Many Worlds are Possible”, unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Bell, John (1987), “Are There Quantum Jumps?”, in Bell, John, Speakable And Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 201–212.Google Scholar
Caldeira, A. O., and Leggett, A. J. (1983), “Path Integral Approach to Quantum Brownian Motion”, Path Integral Approach to Quantum Brownian Motion A 121:587–616.Google Scholar
Callender, Craig (1997), “What is ‘The Problem of the Direction of Time’?”, What is ‘The Problem of the Direction of Time’? 64:S223–S234.Google Scholar
Callender, Craig (2002), “Is Time ‘Handed’ in a Quantum World?”, Pittsburgh PhilSci Archive, http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00000612.Google Scholar
Deutsch, David (1985), “Quantum Theory as a Universal Physical Theory”, Quantum Theory as a Universal Physical Theory 24:1–41.Google Scholar
DeWitt, Bryce, and Graham, Neill (eds.) (1973), The Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Dieks, Dennis, and Vermaas, Pieter (eds.) (1998), The Modal Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. The Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science. Dordrecht: Kluwer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dowker, Fay, and Kent, Adrian (1996), “On the Consistent Histories Approach to Quantum Mechanics”, On the Consistent Histories Approach to Quantum Mechanics 82:1575–1646.Google Scholar
Everett, Hugh (1957), “Relative State Formulation of Quantum Mechanics”, Relative State Formulation of Quantum Mechanics 29:141–150.Google Scholar
Gell-Mann, Murray, and Hartle, James (1993), “Classical Equations for Quantum Systems” Physical Review D 47:3345–3382.Google ScholarPubMed
Ghirardi, Gian Carlo, Rimini, Alberto, and Weber, Tullio (1986), “Unified Dynamics for Microscopic and Macroscopic Systems”, Unified Dynamics for Microscopic and Macroscopic Systems D 34:470–479.Google ScholarPubMed
Griffiths, Robert (1984), “Consistent Histories and the Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics”, Consistent Histories and the Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics 36:219–272.Google Scholar
Halliwell, Jonathan (1995), “A Review of the Decoherent Histories Approach to Quantum Mechanics”, A Review of the Decoherent Histories Approach to Quantum Mechanics 755:726–740.Google Scholar
Halliwell, Jonathan, Perez-Mercader, Juan, and Zurek, Wojciech (eds.) (1992), Physical Origins of the Asymmetry of Time. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hartle, James (1997), “Quantum Pasts and the Utility of History”, quant-ph/9712001.Google Scholar
Hemmo, Meir (1996), Quantum Mechanics Without Collapse: Modal Interpretations, Histories and Many Worlds. Ph.D. Dissertation. Cambridge: University of Cambridge.Google Scholar
Hemmo, Meir, and Shanker, Orly (2001), “Can We Explain Thermodynamics by Quantum Decoherence?”, Can We Explain Thermodynamics by Quantum Decoherence? 32:555–568.Google Scholar
Hemmo, Meir, and Shanker, Orly (2003a), “Quantum Decoherence and the Approach to Equilibrium”, Quantum Decoherence and the Approach to Equilibrium 70:330–358.Google Scholar
Hemmo, Meir, and Shanker, Orly (2003b), “Quantum Decoherence and the Approach to Equilibrium II”, Pittsburgh PhilSci Archive, http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00001147.Google Scholar
Joos, Eric, and Zeh, H. Dieter (1985), “The Emergence of Classical Properties Through Interaction with the Environment”, Zeitschrift für Physik (Z. Phys) B (Condensed Matter) 59:223–243.Google Scholar
von Neumann, John ([1932] 1955), Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics. Reprint. Translated by R. Beyer. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Originally published as Mathematische Grundlagen der Quantenmechanik. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Saunders, Simon (1995),“Time, Quantum Mechanics and Decoherence”, Time, Quantum Mechanics and Decoherence 102:235–266.Google Scholar
Vaidman, Lev (2002), “The Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics”, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu.Google Scholar
Wallace, David (2001), “Implications of Quantum Theory in the Foundations of Statistical Mechanics”, Pittsburgh PhilSci Archive. http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00000410.Google Scholar
Zeh, H. Dieter (1973), “Toward a Quantum Theory of Observation”, Toward a Quantum Theory of Observation 3:109–116.Google Scholar
Zeh, H. Dieter (1992), The Physical Basis of the Direction of Time. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zurek, Wojciech (1993), “Preferred States, Predictability, Classicality, and the Environment-Induced Decoherence”, Preferred States, Predictability, Classicality, and the Environment-Induced Decoherence 89:281–312.Google Scholar
Zurek, Wojciech, Habib, Salman, and Paz, Juan Pablo (1993), “Coherent States via Decoherence”, Coherent States via Decoherence 70:1187–1190.Google ScholarPubMed
Zurek, Wojciech, and Paz, Juan Pablo (1994), “Decoherence, Chaos, and the Second Law”, Decoherence, Chaos, and the Second Law 72 (16): 2508–2511..Google ScholarPubMed