The Measurement Problem from the Perspective of an Information-Theoretic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
1
Philosophy Department, University of Maryland, College Park 20742, MD, USA
2
Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science, University of Maryland, College Park 20742, MD, USA
3
Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park 20742, MD, USA
Academic Editor: Olimpia Lombardi
Entropy 2015, 17(11), 7374-7386; https://doi.org/10.3390/e17117374
Received: 9 September 2015 / Revised: 13 October 2015 / Accepted: 22 October 2015 / Published: 28 October 2015
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information: Meanings and Interpretations)
The aim of this paper is to consider the consequences of an information-theoretic interpretation of quantum mechanics for the measurement problem. The motivating idea of the interpretation is that the relation between quantum mechanics and the structure of information is analogous to the relation between special relativity and the structure of space-time. Insofar as quantum mechanics deals with a class of probabilistic correlations that includes correlations structurally different from classical correlations, the theory is about the structure of information: the possibilities for representing, manipulating, and communicating information in a genuinely indeterministic quantum world in which measurement outcomes are intrinsically random are different than we thought. Part of the measurement problem is deflated as a pseudo-problem on this view, and the theory has the resources to deal with the remaining part, given certain idealizations in the treatment of macrosystems.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Bub, J. The Measurement Problem from the Perspective of an Information-Theoretic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. Entropy 2015, 17, 7374-7386.
AMA Style
Bub J. The Measurement Problem from the Perspective of an Information-Theoretic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. Entropy. 2015; 17(11):7374-7386.
Chicago/Turabian StyleBub, Jeffrey. 2015. "The Measurement Problem from the Perspective of an Information-Theoretic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics" Entropy 17, no. 11: 7374-7386.
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