- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine
Access Provided by Xinjiang University

Reviews of Modern Physics

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Access by Xinjiang University

Decoherence, the measurement problem, and interpretations of quantum mechanics

Maximilian Schlosshauer*

Maximilian Schlosshauer*

  • Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA

  • *Electronic address: MAXL@u.washington.edu
PDF

Rev. Mod. Phys. 76, 1267 – Published 23 February, 2005

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.76.1267

Abstract

Environment-induced decoherence and superselection have been a subject of intensive research over the past two decades, yet their implications for the foundational problems of quantum mechanics, most notably the quantum measurement problem, have remained a matter of great controversy. This paper is intended to clarify key features of the decoherence program, including its more recent results, and to investigate their application and consequences in the context of the main interpretive approaches of quantum mechanics. 

View figure in article

Article Text

References (207)

  1. Adler, S. L., 2002, J. Phys. A 35, 841.
  2. Adler, S. L., 2003, Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. 34 (1), 135.
  3. Adler, S. L., D. C. Brody, T. A. Brun, and L. P. Hughston, 2001, J. Phys. A 34, 8795.
  4. Adler, S. L., and L. P. Horwitz, 2000, J. Math. Phys. 41, 2485.
  5. Albert, D., and B. Loewer, 1996, in Perspectives on Quantum Reality, edited by R. Clifton (Kluwer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands), p. 81.
  6. Albert, D. Z., and L. Vaidman, 1989, Phys. Lett. A 129, 1.
  7. Albrecht, A., 1992, Phys. Rev. D 46, 5504.
  8. Albrecht, A., 1993, Phys. Rev. D 48, 3768.
  9. Allori, V., 2001, Ph.D. thesis, University of Genova.
  10. Allori, V., D. Dürr, S. Goldstein, and N. Zanghì, 2002, J. Opt. B: Quantum Semiclassical Opt. 4, 5482.
  11. Allori, V., and N. Zanghì, 2001, Biannual IQSA Meeting, Cesena, Italy, 2001, quant-ph/0112009.
  12. Anastopoulos, C., 1996, Phys. Rev. E 53, 4711.
  13. Anderson, P. W., 2001, Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. 32, 487.
  14. Appleby, D. M., 1999a, Found. Phys. 29, 1863.
  15. Appleby, D. M., 1999b, Found. Phys. 29, 1885.
  16. Araki, H., and M. M. Yanase, 1960, Phys. Rev. 120, 622.
  17. Auletta, G., 2000, Foundations and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics in the Light of a Critical-Historical Analysis of the Problems and of a Synthesis of the Results (World Scientific, Singapore).
  18. Bacciagaluppi, G., 2000, Found. Phys. 30, 1431.
  19. Bacciagaluppi, G., 2003a, in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Winter 2003 Edition, edited by E. N. Zalta, http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2003/entries/qm-decoherence/
  20. Bacciagaluppi, G., 2003b, talk given at the workshop, Quantum Mechanics on a Large Scale, Vancouver, 23 April 2003. http://www.physics.ubc.ca/̃berciu/PHILIP/CONFERENCES/PWI03/FILES/baccia.ps
  21. Bacciagaluppi, G., and M. Dickson, 1999, Found. Phys. 29, 1165.
  22. Bacciagaluppi, G., M. J. Donald, and P. E. Vermaas, 1995, Helv. Phys. Acta 68, 679.
  23. Bacciagaluppi, G., and M. Hemmo, 1996, Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. 27, 239.
  24. Barnum, H., 2003, quant-ph/0312150.
  25. Barnum, H., C. M. Caves, J. Finkelstein, C. A. Fuchs, and R. Schack, 2000, Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 456, 1175.
  26. Barvinsky, A. O., and A. Y. Kamenshchik, 1995, Phys. Rev. D 52, 743.
  27. Bassi, A., and G. Ghirardi, 1999, Phys. Lett. A 257, 247.
  28. Bassi, A., and G. C. Ghirardi, 2003, Phys. Rep. 379, 257.
  29. Bedford, D., and D. Wang, 1975, Nuovo Cimento Soc. Ital. Fis., A 26, 313.
  30. Bedford, D., and D. Wang, 1977, Nuovo Cimento Soc. Ital. Fis., A 37, 55.
  31. Bell, J. S., 1975, Helv. Phys. Acta 48, 93.
  32. Bell, J. S., 1982, Found. Phys. 12, 989.
  33. Bell, J. S., 1990, in Sixty-Two Years of Uncertainty, edited by A. I. Miller (Plenum, New York), p. 17.
  34. Benatti, F., G. C. Ghirardi, and R. Grassi, 1995, in Advances in Quantum Phenomena, edited by E. G. Beltrametti and J.-M. Lévy-Leblond (Plenum, New York), p. 263.
  35. Bene, G., 2001, quant-ph/0104112.
  36. Blanchard, P., D. Giulini, E. Joos, C. Kiefer, and I.-O. Stamatescu, Eds., 2000, Decoherence: Theoretical, Experimental, and Conceptual Problems, Lecture Notes in Physics No. 538 (Springer, Berlin).
  37. Bohm, D., 1952, Phys. Rev. 85, 166.
  38. Bohm, D., and J. Bub, 1966, Rev. Mod. Phys. 38, 453.
  39. Bohm, D., and B. Hiley, 1993, The Undivided Universe (Routledge, London).
  40. Bub, J., 1997, Interpreting the Quantum World, 1st ed. (Cambridge University, Cambridge, England).
  41. Butterfield, J. N., 2001, in Quantum Mechanics: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action, edited by Robert J. Russell, Philip Clayton, Kirk Wegter-McNelly, and John Polkinghorne (Vatican Observatory Publications and the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, Vatican City State), p. 55.
  42. Caldeira, A. O., and A. J. Leggett, 1983, Physica A 121, 587.
  43. Cisnerosy, C., R. P. Martinez-y-Romeroz, H. N. Núñez-Yépe, and A. L. Salas-Brito, 1998, Eur. J. Phys. 19, 237.
  44. Clifton, R., 1995, in Symposium on the Foundations of Modern Physics 1994—70 Years of Matter Waves, edited by K. V. Laurikainen, C. Montonen, and K. Sunnarborg (Editions Frontières, Gif-sur-Yvette), p. 45.
  45. Clifton, R., 1996, Br. J. Philos. Sci. 47, 371.
  46. de Broglie, L., 1930, An Introduction to the Study of Wave Mechanics (E. PhysicaDutton and Co., New York).
  47. d’Espagnat, B., 1988, Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, 2nd ed., Advanced Book Classics (Perseus, Reading).
  48. d’Espagnat, B., 1989, J. Stat. Phys. 56, 747.
  49. d’Espagnat, B., 2000, Phys. Lett. A 282, 133.
  50. Deutsch, D., 1985, Int. J. Theor. Phys. 24, 1.
  51. Deutsch, D., 1996, Br. J. Philos. Sci. 47, 222.
  52. Deutsch, D., 1999, Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 455, 3129.
  53. Deutsch, D., 2002, Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 458, 2911.
  54. DeWitt, B. S., 1970, Phys. Today 23 (9), 30.
  55. DeWitt, B. S., 1971, in Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, edited by B. d’Espagnat (Academic, New York), p. 211. Reprinted in DeWitt and Graham (1973), p. 167.
  56. DeWitt, B. S., and N. Graham, 1973, The Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (Princeton University, Princeton).
  57. Dieks, D., 1989, Phys. Lett. A 142, 439.
  58. Dieks, D., 1994a, Phys. Rev. A 49, 2290.
  59. Dieks, D., 1994b, in Proceedings of the Symposium on the Foundations of Modern Physics, 1993, edited by I. Busch, P. Lahti, and P. Mittelstaedt (World Scientific, Singapore), p. 160.
  60. Dieks, D., 1995, Phys. Lett. A 197, 367.
  61. Diósi, L., 1988, Phys. Lett. A 129, 419.
  62. Diósi, L., 1989, Phys. Rev. A 40, 1165.
  63. Diósi, L., and C. Kiefer, 2000, Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3552.
  64. Donald, M., 1998, in The Modal Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, edited by D. Dieks and P. Vermaas (Kluwer, Dordrecht), p. 213.
  65. Dowker, F., and J. J. Halliwell, 1992, Phys. Rev. D 46, 1580.
  66. Dowker, F., and A. Kent, 1995, Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 3038.
  67. Dowker, F., and A. Kent, 1996, J. Stat. Phys. 82, 1575.
  68. Dürr, D., S. Goldstein, R. Tumulka, and N. Zanghì, 2003, J. Phys. A 36, 4143.
  69. Dürr, D., S. Goldstein, R. Tumulka, and N. Zanghì, 2004, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 090402.
  70. Einstein, A., B. Podolsky, and N. Rosen, 1935, Phys. Rev. 47, 777.
  71. Eisert, J., 2004, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 210401.
  72. Elby, A., and J. Bub, 1994, Phys. Rev. A 49, 4213.
  73. Everett, H., 1957, Rev. Mod. Phys. 29, 454.
  74. Farhi, E., J. Goldstone, and S. Gutmann, 1989, Ann. Phys. (N.Y.) 192, 368.
  75. Finkelstein, J., 1993, Phys. Rev. D 47, 5430.
  76. Fivel, D. I., 1997, quant-ph/9710042.
  77. Furry, W. H., 1936, Phys. Rev. 49, 393.
  78. Galindo, A., A. Morales, and R. Núñez-Lagos, 1962, J. Math. Phys. 3, 324.
  79. Gell-Mann, M., and J. Hartle, 1990, in Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics in the Light of New Technology, Tokyo, Japan, 1989, edited by S. Kobayashi, H. Ezawa, Y. Murayama, and S. Nomura (Physical Society of Japan, Tokyo), p. 321.
  80. Gell-Mann, M., and J. Hartle, 1991a, in Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on High Energy Physics, Singapore, 1990, edited by K. K. Phua and Y. Yamaguchi (World Scientific, Singapore), Vol. 2, p. 1303.
  81. Gell-Mann, M., and J. B. Hartle, 1991b, in Complexity, Entropy, and the Physics of Information, Santa Fe Institute Studies in the Science of Complexity, edited by W. H. Zurek (Addison-Wesley, Redwood City), p. 425.
  82. Gell-Mann, M., and J. Hartle, 1993, Phys. Rev. D 47, 3345.
  83. Gell-Mann, M., and J. B. Hartle, 1998, in Quantum Classical Correspondence: The 4th Drexel Symposium on Quantum Nonintegrability, 1994, edited by D. H. Feng and B. L. Hu (International Press, Cambridge, MA), p. 3.
  84. Geroch, R., 1984, Nous 18, 617.
  85. Ghirardi, G. C., P. Pearle, and A. Rimini, 1990, Phys. Rev. A 42, 78.
  86. Ghirardi, G. C., A. Rimini, and T. Weber, 1986, Phys. Rev. D 34, 470.
  87. Ghirardi, G. C., A. Rimini, and T. Weber, 1987, Phys. Rev. D 36, 3287.
  88. Gill, R. D., 2003, . To appear in Quantum Probability and Infinite Dimensional Analysis: From Foundations to Applications, edited by Michael Schürmann and Uwe Franz (World Scientific, Singapore), in press.
  89. Gisin, N., 1984, Phys. Rev. Lett. 52 (19), 1657.
  90. Giulini, D., 2000, Lect. Notes Phys. 559, 67.
  91. Giulini, D., C. Kiefer, and H. D. Zeh, 1995, Phys. Lett. A 199, 291.
  92. Gleason, A. M., 1957, J. Math. Mech. 6, 885.
  93. Goldstein, S., 1998, Phys. Today 51 (3), 42.
  94. Graham, N., 1973, in The Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, edited by B. S. DeWitt and N. Graham (Princeton University, Princeton), p. 229.
  95. Griffiths, R. B., 1984, J. Stat. Phys. 36, 219.
  96. Griffiths, R. B., 1993, Found. Phys. 23, 1601.
  97. Griffiths, R. B., 1996, Phys. Rev. A 54, 2759.
  98. Hagan, S., S. R. Hameroff, and J. A. Tuszynski, 2002, Phys. Rev. E 65, 061901.
  99. Halliwell, J. J., 1993, gr-qc/9308005.
  100. Halliwell, J. J., 1996, Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 755, 726.
  101. Halliwell, J. J., 1998, Phys. Rev. D 58, 105015.
  102. Halliwell, J. J., 1999, Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 2481.
  103. Halliwell, J. J., 2001, in Time in Quantum Mechanics, edited by J. G. Muga, R. Sala Mayato, and I. L. Egususquiza (Springer, Berlin), p. 153.
  104. Halvorson, H., and R. Clifton, 2002, Philos. Sci. 69, 1.
  105. Harris, R. A., and L. Stodolsky, 1981, J. Chem. Phys. 74, 2145.
  106. Hartle, J. B., 1968, Am. J. Phys. 36, 704.
  107. Healey, R. A., 1989, The Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics: An Interactive Interpretation (Cambridge University, Cambridge, England/New York).
  108. Hemmo, M., 1996, Ph.D. thesis (University of Cambridge).
  109. Hepp, K., 1972, Helv. Phys. Acta 45, 327.
  110. Holland, P. R., 1993, The Quantum Theory of Motion (Cambridge University, Cambridge, England).
  111. Hu, B. L., J. P. Paz, and Y. Zang, 1992, Phys. Rev. D 45, 2843.
  112. Hughston, L. P., 1996, Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 452, 953.
  113. Joos, E., 1987, Phys. Rev. D 36, 3285.
  114. Joos, E., 2000, in Decoherence: Theoretical, Experimental, and Conceptual Problems, Lecture Notes in Physics No. 538, edited by P. Blanchard, D. Giulini, E. Joos, C. Kiefer, and I-O. Stamatescu (Springer, New York), p. 1.
  115. Joos, E., and H. D. Zeh, 1985, Z. Phys. B: Condens. Matter 59, 223.
  116. Joos, E., H. D. Zeh, C. Kiefer, D. Giulini, J. Kupsch, and I.-O. Stamatescu, 2003, Decoherence and the Appearance of a Classical World in Quantum Theory, 2nd ed. (Springer, New York).
  117. Kent, A., 1990, Int. J. Mod. Phys. A 5, 1745.
  118. Kent, A., 1998, Phys. Scr. T76, 78.
  119. Kent, A., and J. McElwaine, 1997, Phys. Rev. A 55, 1703.
  120. Kiefer, C., and E. Joos, 1999, in Quantum Future: From Volta and Como to the Present and Beyond, edited by P. Blanchard and A. Jadczyk (Springer, Berlin), p. 105.
  121. Kochen, S., 1985, in Symposium on the Foundations of Modern Physics: 50 Years of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Experiment, Joensuu, Finland, 1985, edited by P. Lahti and P. Mittelstaedt (World Scientific, Singapore), p. 151.
  122. Kübler, O., and H. D. Zeh, 1973, Ann. Phys. (N.Y.) 76, 405.
  123. Landau, L. D., 1927, Z. Phys. 45, 430.
  124. Landsman, N. P., 1995, Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. 26, 45.
  125. Lewis, P., 1997, Br. J. Philos. Sci. 48, 313.
  126. Lockwood, M., 1996, Br. J. Philos. Sci. 47, 159.
  127. Malament, D. B., 1996, in Perspectives on Quantum Reality, 1st ed., edited by R. Clifton (Kluwer, Boston), p. 1.
  128. Mermin, N. D., 1998a, Pramana 51, 549.
  129. Mermin, N. D., 1998b, Am. J. Phys. 66, 753.
  130. Milburn, G. J., 1991, Phys. Rev. A 44, 5401.
  131. Mohrhoff, U., 2004, Int. J. Quantum Inf. 2, 221.
  132. Ollivier, H., D. Poulin, and W. H. Zurek, 2003, quant-ph/0307229.
  133. Omnès, R., 1988a, J. Stat. Phys. 53, 893.
  134. Omnès, R., 1988b, J. Stat. Phys. 53, 933.
  135. Omnès, R., 1988c, J. Stat. Phys. 53, 957.
  136. Omnès, R., 1990, Ann. Phys. (N.Y.) 201, 354.
  137. Omnès, R., 1992, Rev. Mod. Phys. 64, 339.
  138. Omnès, R., 1994, The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (Princeton University, Princeton).
  139. Omnès, R., 2002, Phys. Rev. A 65, 052119.
  140. Paz, J. P., and W. H. Zurek, 1993, Phys. Rev. D 48, 2728.
  141. Paz, J. P., and W. H. Zurek, 1999, Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 5181.
  142. Pearle, P., 1976, Phys. Rev. D 13, 857.
  143. Pearle, P., 1982, Found. Phys. 12, 249.
  144. Pearle, P., 1984, Phys. Rev. D 29, 235.
  145. Pearle, P., 1986, Phys. Rev. D 33, 2240.
  146. Pearle, P., 1989, Phys. Rev. A 39, 2277.
  147. Pearle, P. M., 1979, Int. J. Theor. Phys. 48, 489.
  148. Pearle, P. M., 1999, in Open Systems and Measurement in Relativistic Quantum Theory, edited by H.-P. Breuer and F. Petruccioni (Springer, Berlin), p. 31.
  149. Percival, I., 1995, Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 451, 503.
  150. Percival, I., 1998, Quantum State Diffusion (Cambridge University, Cambridge, England).
  151. Pessoa, O., Jr., 1998, Synthese 113, 323.
  152. Rae, A. I. M., 1990, J. Phys. A 23, L57.
  153. Rovelli, C., 1996, Int. J. Theor. Phys. 35, 1637.
  154. Sanz, A. S., and F. Borondo, 2003, quant-ph/0310096.
  155. Saunders, S., 1995, Synthese 102, 235.
  156. Saunders, S., 1997, Monist 80, 44.
  157. Saunders, S., 1998, Synthese 114, 373.
  158. Saunders, S., 2002, quant-ph/0211138.
  159. Schlosshauer, M., and A. Fine, 2003, Found. Phys., in press, quant-ph/0312058.
  160. Schrödinger, E., 1926, Naturwiss. 14, 664.
  161. Squires, E. J., 1990, Phys. Lett. A 145, 67.
  162. Squires, E. J., 1991, Phys. Lett. A 158, 431.
  163. Stapp, H. P., 1993, Mind, Matter, and Quantum Mechanics, 1st ed. (Springer, New York).
  164. Stapp, H. P., 2002, Can. J. Phys. 80, 1043.
  165. Stein, H., 1984, Nous 18, 635.
  166. Tegmark, M., 1993, Found. Phys. Lett. 6, 571.
  167. Tegmark, M., 1998, Fortschr. Phys. 46, 855.
  168. Tegmark, M., 2000, Phys. Rev. E 61, 4194.
  169. Twamley, J., 1993a, gr-qc/9303022.
  170. Twamley, J., 1993b, Phys. Rev. D 48, 5730.
  171. Unruh, W. G., and W. H. Zurek, 1989, Phys. Rev. D 40, 1071.
  172. Vaidman, L., 1998, Int. Stud. Phil. Sci. 12, 245.
  173. van Fraassen, B., 1973, in Contemporary Research in the Foundations and Philosophy of Quantum Theory, edited by C. A. Hooker (Reidel, Dordrecht), p. 180.
  174. van Fraassen, B., 1991, Quantum Mechanics: An Empiricist View (Clarendon, Oxford).
  175. Vermaas, P. E., and D. Dieks, 1995, Found. Phys. 25, 145.
  176. von Neumann, J., 1932, Mathematische Grundlagen der Quantenmechanik (Springer, Berlin).
  177. Wallace, D., 2002, Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. 33, 637.
  178. Wallace, D., 2003a, Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. 34, 87.
  179. Wallace, D., 2003b, Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. 34, 415.
  180. Wick, G. C., A. S. Wightman, and E. P. Wigner, 1952, Phys. Rev. 88, 101.
  181. Wick, G. C., A. S. Wightman, and E. P. Wigner, 1970, Phys. Rev. D 1, 3267.
  182. Wightman, A. S., 1995, Nuovo Cimento Soc. Ital. Fis., B 110, 751.
  183. Wigner, E. P., 1952, Z. Phys. 133, 101.
  184. Wigner, E. P., 1963, Am. J. Phys. 31, 6.
  185. Zeh, H. D., 1970, Found. Phys. 1, 69.
  186. Zeh, H. D., 1973, Found. Phys. 3, 109.
  187. Zeh, H. D., 1993, Phys. Lett. A 172, 189.
  188. Zeh, H. D., 1995, quant-ph/9506020.
  189. Zeh, H. D., 1997, in New Developments on Fundamental Problems in Quantum Physics (Oviedo II), edited by M. Ferrero and A. van der Merwe (Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht), p. 441.
  190. Zeh, H. D., 1999, Found. Phys. Lett. 12, 197.
  191. Zeh, H. D., 2000 in Decoherence, Theoretical, Experimental, and Conceptual Problems, Lecture Notes in Physics No. 538, edited by P. Blanchard, D. Giulini, E. Joos, C. Kiefer, and I.-O. Stamatescu (Springer, New York), p. 19.
  192. Zeh, H.-D., 2001, The Physical Basis of the Direction of Time, 4th ed (Springer, Berlin).
  193. Zeh, H. D., 2003, Phys. Lett. A 309, 329.
  194. Zurek, W. H., 1981, Phys. Rev. D 24, 1516.
  195. Zurek, W. H., 1982, Phys. Rev. D 26, 1862.
  196. Zurek, W. H., 1991, Phys. Today 44 (10), 36. An updated version is available as quant-ph/0306072.
  197. Zurek, W. H., 1993, Prog. Theor. Phys. 89, 281.
  198. Zurek, W. H., 1998, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 356, 1793.
  199. Zurek, W. H., 2000, Ann. Phys. (Leipzig) 9, 855.
  200. Zurek, W. H., 2003a, Rev. Mod. Phys. 75, 715.
  201. Zurek, W. H., 2003b, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 120404.
  202. Zurek, W. H., 2003c, private communication.
  203. Zurek, W. H., 2004a, quant-ph/0405161.
  204. Zurek, W. H., 2004b, in Science and Ultimate Reality, edited by J. D. Barrow, P. C. W. Davies, and C. H. Harper (Cambridge University, Cambridge, England), p. 121.
  205. Zurek, W. H., F. M. Cucchietti, and J. P. Paz, 2003, quant-ph/0312207.
  206. Zurek, W. H., S. Habib, and J. P. Paz, 1993, Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 1187.
  207. Zurek, W. H., and J.-P. Paz, 1994, Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 2508.

Outline

Information

Rev. Mod. Phys. 76, 1267– Published 23 February, 2005

    © 2005 American Physical Society

    Sign In to Your Journals Account

    Filter

    Filter

    Article Lookup

    Enter a citation