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Topic: Wave function collapse

	Charm the quantum dog
		The crucial question is whether wave function collapse (and hence the end of time symmetric unitary evolution) is a property of sentient observers or a property of the nature of observational apparatus.
		This is important as wave function collapse is part of the arrow of time which distinguishes past from future and also critical in relating observer and observed system.
		If the presence of such a device gives rise to wave function collapse, this could either be due to the effects of the measurement device, or the memory.
	www.comp.lancs.ac.uk /computing/users/dixa/magisoft/qdog/quantum-dog.html (3559 words)

	wavefunction_collapse (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		However, when the wavefunction collapses, which is the other process, from an observer's perspective the state seems to "jump" to one of the basis states and uniquely acquire the value of the property being measured that is associated with that particular basis state.
		Upon performing measurement of an observable ''A'', the probability of collapsing to a particular eigenstate of ''A'' is directly proportional to the squared modulus of the (generally complex) amplitude associated with it.
		The cluster of phenomena described by the expression ''wavefunction collapse'' is a fundamental problem in the interpretation of quantum mechanics known as the measurement problem.
	goc.subdomain.de /wavefunction_collapse (460 words)

	B (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		The wave function is in principle a valid tool for the description of the behavior of not only subatomic particle, but also of whole atoms and even molecules, although for the molecules the uncertainty in their location as determined by the wave function becomes negligible.
		The wave function which is just a mathematical construct would “collapse” (which simply means that the electrons’ whereabouts would be revealed for a potential future observer) as a result of their interaction with a macroscopic device (photographic emulsion) in our absence as well as if we were present in the lab.
		Their measurement of the atom’s location, according to the statements by Silman’s colleagues, must have resulted in a collapse of the wave function of the atom, and as soon as the wave function collapses, the atom’s whereabouts become instantly determined; upon the measurement such an atom is located at a certain point.
	www.nctimes.net /~mark/bibl_science/tselhatorah.htm (13414 words)

	Consciousness, Causality, Quantum Physics
		This sudden and discontinuous "collapse" violates the Schrödinger equation, and is not further explained in the conventional interpretation.
		The theory of wave-function collapse (or state-vector collapse, as it is sometimes called) raises the question of how the "probability waves" that the wave function is thought to represent can collapse into a particle if they are no more than abstract mathematical constructs.
		For Bohm, the probabilities calculated from the wave function indicate the chances of a particle being at different positions regardless of whether a measurement is made, whereas in the conventional interpretation they indicate the chances of a particle coming into existence at different positions when a measurement is made.
	ourworld.compuserve.com /homepages/dp5/jse.htm (3609 words)

	Collapse Theories
		Indeed, the fact that, e.g., the wave function of the centre of mass of a pointer or of a table has not a compact support has never been taken to be a problem for standard quantum mechanics.
		When the wave function is extremely well peaked around a given point in space, it has always been accepted that it describes a table located at a certain position, and that this corresponds in some way to our perception of it.
		It is obviously true that, for the given wave function, the quantum rules entail that if a measurement were performed the table could be found (with an extremely small probability) to be kilometers far away, but this is not the measurement or the macro-objectification problem of the standard theory.
	plato.stanford.edu /entries/qm-collapse (10427 words)

	Neuroscience-Net - Theoretical Neuroscience Article #10011
		Thus quantum mechanics incorporates an operation, collapse of the wave function (also called reduction of the state vector where the state vector is the linear sum of the complexly weighted possible alternative states) which is inherently probabilistic, rather than deterministic in the classical Newtonian sense.
		Spontaneous collapse models which posit quantum decoherence or the instability of quantum states entangled with macroscopic states might predict that the state should still persist for only 20 microseconds; the von Neumann/Wigner/Stapp interpretation would suggest that the state could persist until the actual observation of superposition is made.
		Thus, this interpretation is compatible with the hypothesis of Stapp (1993) and simultaneously similar to the hypothesis of "orchestrated objective reduction" of the wave function (Penrose, 1994; Hameroff and Penrose, 1996)[Footnote 3].
	www.neuroscience.com /qua09961/htm/f_body.html (9078 words)

	Luca Barberis Paper 2
		Life process is an expression of measurement-like interactions (wave function collapse processes) that were ubiquitous in the early history of the universe, and determined its initial evolution, but that are negligible in the equilibrium universe, that we are inhabiting.
		Even if systems with a large number of nonstatic interactions undergo some spontaneous wave function collapse, it is only in the presence of sensitive amplification mechanisms such as occur in the biological cells that significant macroscopic effects occur (Conrad, 1989).
		The distinctive wave forms were affected by the rolfing procedure and correlated reliably with the colours reported by the sensitive.
	www.cix.co.uk /~stuv/Luca2.htm (3276 words)

	Consciousness and Quantum Measurement (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		By writing the wave function as a product of two quantities -- the amplitude (whose square gives us the probability of finding the object in a given region of space) and the phase, Bohm does recover Newton's equation for a particle with coordinate x (and velocity v) evolving in a trajectory.
		Thus the collapse can be seen to entail not only the possibility wave collapsing to a particle at the point of collapse, but the collapse of the entire trajectory going backwards in time.
		In conclusion, with this straightforward interpretation of Bohm's work, we have demonstrated that collapse of the wave function and consciousness as the causal agent for collapse remains basic in any interpretation of quantum mechanics and any understanding of quantum measurement.
	www.meta-religion.com /Physics/Consciousness/consciousness_and_quantum_measur.htm (1571 words)

	Wavefunction collapse (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		In quantum mechanics the collapse of the wavefunction is a name given historically to of two processes by which quantum systems evolve.
		However when the wavefunction collapses from observer's perspective the state seems to "jump" one of the basis states and uniquely the value of the property being measured is associated with that particular basis state.
		Upon performing measurement of an observable A the probability of collapsing to a eigenstate of A is directly proportional to the square modulus of the complex) amplitude associated with it.
	www.freeglossary.com /Wavefunction_collapse (807 words)

	Wave-function collapse (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		It is customary to ascribe a wave-function to the state of the experiment before an actual measurement is made, and then to speak of the wave-function collapsing to one of the eigenstates of the wave-equation just at the moment of registration.
		But what if one views things somewhat differently: suppose the wave equation describes NOT a physical state, not something that changes during the course of the experiment, in particular at the point of registration (observation), but rather as a description of the symmetries of the experiment as whole, undivided, setup and registration.
		The measurement phase and the setup phase are not separately described by the wave function and equation.
	www.panix.com /~dave/quantum/recent/collapse.html (510 words)

	IIDB - View Single Post - Consciousness requires complexity
		perhaps not a photon but a quantum wave function could exhibit the property of being affected by a stimulus.
		The stimulus could be "measurement" and the effect could be quantum wave function collapse (not total collapse, the partial collapse or commitment to a definite state that we study in the double slit experiment).
		Once the wave function is measured, we (the universe at large, or the electron / photon's wave function) become conscious of its value, in a generic sense.
	www.iidb.org /vbb/showpost.php?p=1718389&postcount=8 (130 words)

	Goswami's monistic idealism: an appraisal
		it is your observation that collapses the wave function of one of the two correlated photons in the experiment, forcing it to take on a certain polarization.
		Before the 'coherent superpositions' of a quantum system are collapsed by human consciousness, they are said to be real but to exist in the transcendent domain beyond material reality; they are brought into immanence only when a conscious mind, by the process of observation, chooses one of the many facets of the coherent superposition.
		Goswami, however, insists that the awareness of a human brain-mind is an essential ingredient in the collapse of wave functions by transcendent consciousness.
	ourworld.compuserve.com /homepages/DP5/goswami.htm (8174 words)

	JCS-ONLINE
		Accordingly, on classical quantum physical accounts, you gotta have collapse unpredictably to one or another of the eigenstates of the wave function 'cause its the collapse that permits observables to appear.
		Whether the collapse is thought of in terms of Heisenberg "actual events," Penrose's gravitational collapse, GRW theory or whatever, the notion retains an ad hoc character, superimposed on a pure quantum theory by the need to account for the observables that are the very epistemic basis of quantum physics itself.
		So I say, be very wary of any "collapse of the wave function." I don't think it really occurs, and we don't need it to account for observables for this reason: The match between the brain's quantum re-presentation of reality and the superposed conjugate realities of cognition brings observables.
	www.imprint.co.uk /online/QM_globus1.html (673 words)

	Paradoxes Resolved, Origins Illuminated - Penrose gravitational entropy and MOND
		That is, that wave function collapse may modify the effective gravitational field.
		Furthermore, since it appears to be evident that entropy is as active in the weak gravitational field limit as in the strong (where Penrose makes his case) the place to look for gravitational anomalies due to wave function collapse is in the weak gravitational limit.
		In this condition, a perturbational analysis of the time evolution of a wave state that begins as an eigenstate, must show that the eigenstate is abandoned with a time dependency proportional to the square of time rather than (as exponential decay implies) simply proportional to time.
	www.metaresearch.org /msgboard/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=338 (507 words)

	cons2
		Collapse of the wave function thus lies at the core of chaotic fluctuation.
		This is consistent with the universe emerging from a single wave function as a quantum fluctuation through the cosmic inflation arising with symmetry-breaking of the forces of nature.
		In the transactional interpretation, wave function collapse corresponds to a collapse of a transaction between all potential emitters and absorbers to a single transaction between the emitter and the selected absorber.
	www.dhushara.com /book/brainp/Chaoq.htm (6149 words)

	The Copenhagen and Many Worlds Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics
		In the standard interpretation, one can think of the wave function itself as something like a Gaussian Bell Curve that keeps its shape until a measurement is made, whereupon the bell curve gets squished down to a spike at the position of the particle.
		This is what physicists term the "collapse" of the wave function, and the idea of wave function collapse forms the backbone of the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics, the Copenhagen interpretation.
		In the Copenhagen Interpretation, a measurement collapses the wave function (shown here as a 3D Gaussian bell curve) to a spike at some position and the particle is said to exist at that point and nowhere else, to a precision limited by the famous Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.
	www.angelfire.com /scifi/feedme365/BSJ/CopenhagenManyWorlds.html (410 words)

	Luca Barberis Paper 1
		Life process is an expression of measurement-like interactions (wave function collapse processes) that were ubiquitous in the early history of the universe, and determined its initial evolution.
		Thus we are quantum detectors or wave function collpasers.
		The stability of a biosystem is connected mainly with the reliability of information processing and transfer inside it and through its multiple levels; it uses its inherent energy to re-arrange random energy sources into an ordered and information-carrying energetic pattern, coherent with its status of a living being [9].
	www.cix.co.uk /~stuv/Luca1.htm (3833 words)

	Infinite universe and many worlds
		Everett showed that, if you look at it right, a universe which does not have wave function collapse could actually be said to look to its inhabitants as though it did have collapse.
		There are some parallels between an open universe with wave function collapse and one without.
		What I'm not sure about then is whether the infinite universe with wave function collapse can also be simulated with a small program, like a universe without collapse.
	www.mail-archive.com /everything-list%40eskimo.com/msg00000.html (351 words)

	Quantum Consciousness
		When two quantum systems have interacted, their wave functions become "phase entangled"so that when one system's wave function is collapsed, the other system’s wave function, no matter how far away, instantly collapses as well.
		The non-computable R process is known in various contexts as collapse of the wave function, quantum jump, Heisenberg event and/or state reduction.
		Exactly why and how collapse occurs, and how eigenstates are determined, are unknown and indicate a gap in physics knowledge: R is not taken to be an objectively real, independent phenomenon in the standard Copenhagen interpretation.
	www.quantumconsciousness.org /penrose-hameroff/orchOR.html (9133 words)

	Bias Field Drive (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		The Q-region is next observed (via feedback thru the stabilization generators) in a controlled manner by the ships drive controller in order to collapse its 'wave-function' into a state in which zero- point field quantum fluctuations are suppressed resulting in the inertia of the ship being reduced nearly to zero.
		To further minimize the possibility of an uncontrolled wave function collapse due to the Observer Effect, standard flight procedures involve placing all passengers and crew into stasis during acceleration/deceleration procedures.
		The level of process control needed to keep the quantum field core stable and to influence the wave function collapse and to expand the effect to include the whole ship AND to keep it from collapsing from femtosecond to femtosecond is much higher than that needed to run a GUT drive.
	www.orionsarm.com /ships/bias_drive.html (938 words)

	Gnostical Turpitude: Thinking About Physics (Part 2)
		The issue is "wave-function collapse." This is another case where I think that R. Newton in his book Thinking About Physics is mostly right, so if my account is insufficient, take a look there.
		The idea of wave-function collapse is that, when a measurement is performed, a quantum state that is in a superposition of various eigenstates will be projected onto one eigenstate, chosen according to a probability given by this state's overlap with the original state.
		This "wave-function collapse" is nondeterministic and corresponds to nonunitary evolution.
	gnosticalturpitude.org /archives/000213.html (746 words)

	91080602.HTM (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		Summary: The nondeterminism of quantum collapse is the issue.
		This non locality comes from the assumption that wave function collapse has no hidden structure and occurs instantaneously.
		It may well be that quantum collapse is a deterministic process based on some new level of physical structure that we do not yet understand.
	www.ciphersbyritter.com /REALRAND/91080602.HTM (568 words)

	CH: Questions and Answers (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		What is different is that by employing suitable families of histories one can show that measurements actually measure something that is there, rather than producing a mysterious collapse of a wave function.
		From the consistent histories perspective, wave function collapse is a mathematical procedure for calculating certain kinds of conditional probabilities that can be calculated by alternative methods, and thus has nothing to do with any physical process.
		That is, "collapse" is something which takes place in the theorist's notebook, not in the experimentalist's laboratory.
	quantum.phys.cmu.edu /quest.html (1959 words)

	dmx krew, the collapse of the wave function (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		DMX KREW - The Collapse Of The Wave Function
		"Probability Waves" is a sublime solitary synth-piano piece, while, "Aurora" dispenses with the beats altogether and delivers some classic braindance ambience.
		The Collapse Of The New Function Volume 2
	www.boomkat.com /item.cfm?id=14475 (327 words)

	How Not to Collapse the Wave Function
		This is referred to as the ‘collapse’ of the wave function - of probability amplitudes - that defines the system, so the system ends up in one definite state and no other.
		In case of Schrödinger’s cat, this collapse of the wave function amounts to being found definitely dead or definitely alive.
		As soon as it is ‘observed’ by opening the lid, however, the quantum superposition is destroyed, and the system’s wave function ‘collapses’ into a classical state.
	www.i-sis.org.uk /HNTCTWF.php (2414 words)

	JCS-ONLINE
		The only apparent truly irreversible event in physics is collapse of the wave function.
		Such a theory would also account for irreversible wave function collapse whenever a significant' amount of spacetime curvature/separation is present in a quantum superposition.
		This is another reason why wave function collapse must be involved in consciousness.
	www.imprint.co.uk /online/Time_hamer1.html (643 words)

	Inveterate Bystander: 01/23/04 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		Kurt Gödel aside, the big problem is wave function collapse, which occurs when a quantum event is measured.
		Penrose posits that the human mind itself is subject to wave function collapse and supposes that brain microtubules allow it.
		With the correspondence between wave function collapse in mind and the objects of mental observation, he seeks to rescue the world of macrophysics (in some instances like the common sense world we experience) and make it compatible with quantum physics.
	spiritrambler.blogspot.com /archives/2004_01_23_spiritrambler_archive.html (2072 words)

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