Classical mechanics historically preceded quantum mechanics and thus far has not been displaced from primary status; the path to construction of quantum theory has remained rooted in classical ideas about objective reality within space and time. Use of a less correct theory as underpinning for a more correct theory not only is unaesthetic but has spawned the perplexing and never-resolved puzzle of measurement. A growing number of physicist-philosophers torture themselves these days over collapse of the quantum-mechanical state vector when measurement is performed. Additionally, pointlike structure of the spacetime manifold underlying local classical fields has endowed quantum theory with mathematical …
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Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States)
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California
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Classical mechanics historically preceded quantum mechanics and thus far has not been displaced from primary status; the path to construction of quantum theory has remained rooted in classical ideas about objective reality within space and time. Use of a less correct theory as underpinning for a more correct theory not only is unaesthetic but has spawned the perplexing and never-resolved puzzle of measurement. A growing number of physicist-philosophers torture themselves these days over collapse of the quantum-mechanical state vector when measurement is performed. Additionally, pointlike structure of the spacetime manifold underlying local classical fields has endowed quantum theory with mathematical dilemmas. It has been proposed by Gell-Mann and Hartle that objectively-realistic ideas such as measurement may lack a priori status, the predominantly classical present universe having evolved as a relic of the big bang. Other authors have suggested that spacetime itself need not be a priori but may stem from quantum mechanics. Haag has written recently that spacetime without (quantum) events is probably a meaningless concept. Henry Stapp and I have for several years been exploring a simple quantum system devoid of classical underpinning, even spacetime, but admitting within the Hilbert space a special Lie-group-related category of vector known as coherent state. Groups unitarily representable in our Hilbert space include the Poincare group, which relates to 3 + 1 spacetime. Coherent states generally are labeled by parameters associated with unitary group representations, and it has long been recognized that when such parameters become large a classical objective interpretation may result. Stapp and I have been attempting to understand space and time via large coherent-state parameters. Six years ago I presented to this gathering a preliminary report on our enterprise; in this paper I provide an update.
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