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The Measurement Process in Local Quantum Physics and the EPR Paradox

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Abstract

We describe in a qualitative way a possible picture of the Measurement Process in Quantum Mechanics, which takes into account the finite and non zero time duration T of the interaction between the observed system and the microscopic part of the measurement apparatus; the finite space size R of that apparatus; and the fact that the macroscopic part of the measurement apparatus, having the role of amplifying the effect of that interaction to a macroscopic scale, is composed by a very large but finite number N of particles. The Schrödinger evolution of the composed system can be expected to deform into the conventional picture of the measurement, as an instantaneous action turning a pure state into a mixture, only in the limit \({N \rightarrow \infty, T \rightarrow 0, R \rightarrow \infty}\). Our main point is to discuss this picture for the measurement of local observables in Quantum Field Theory, where the dynamics of the theory and the measurement itself are described by the same time evolution complying with the Principle of Locality. We comment on the Einstein Podolski Rosen thought experiment, reformulated here only in terms of local observables (rather than global ones, as one particle or polarization observables).The local picture of the measurement process helps to make it clear that there is no conflict with the Principle of Locality.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Matematica, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Sergio Doplicher

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  1. Sergio Doplicher
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Correspondence to Sergio Doplicher.

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Communicated by D. Buchholz, K. Fredenhagen, Y. Kawahigashi

In memoriam Rudolf Haag, poet of first principles and of clarity, path opener and friend

Research partly supported by INdAM.

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Doplicher, S. The Measurement Process in Local Quantum Physics and the EPR Paradox. Commun. Math. Phys. 357, 407–420 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00220-017-2949-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00220-017-2949-z

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