Is the Universe in a Mixed State?

IF 1.2 3区物理与天体物理 Q3 PHYSICS, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Foundations of Physics Pub Date : 2023-12-17 DOI:10.1007/s10701-023-00742-6

Shan Gao

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Quantum mechanics with a fundamental density matrix has been proposed and discussed recently. Moreover, it has been conjectured that the universe is not in a pure state but in a mixed state in this theory. In this paper, I argue that this mixed state conjecture has two main problems: the redundancy problem and the underdetermination problem, which are lacking in quantum mechanics with a definite initial wave function of the universe.

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宇宙处于混合状态吗？

最近提出并讨论了具有基本密度矩阵的量子力学。此外，有人猜想，在这一理论中，宇宙不是处于纯态，而是处于混合态。在本文中，我认为这种混合态猜想存在两个主要问题：冗余问题和欠定问题，而这两个问题是具有确定宇宙初始波函数的量子力学所缺乏的。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Foundations of Physics 物理-物理：综合

CiteScore

2.70

自引率

6.70%

发文量

104

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： The conceptual foundations of physics have been under constant revision from the outset, and remain so today. Discussion of foundational issues has always been a major source of progress in science, on a par with empirical knowledge and mathematics. Examples include the debates on the nature of space and time involving Newton and later Einstein; on the nature of heat and of energy; on irreversibility and probability due to Boltzmann; on the nature of matter and observation measurement during the early days of quantum theory; on the meaning of renormalisation, and many others. Today, insightful reflection on the conceptual structure utilised in our efforts to understand the physical world is of particular value, given the serious unsolved problems that are likely to demand, once again, modifications of the grammar of our scientific description of the physical world. The quantum properties of gravity, the nature of measurement in quantum mechanics, the primary source of irreversibility, the role of information in physics – all these are examples of questions about which science is still confused and whose solution may well demand more than skilled mathematics and new experiments. Foundations of Physics is a privileged forum for discussing such foundational issues, open to physicists, cosmologists, philosophers and mathematicians. It is devoted to the conceptual bases of the fundamental theories of physics and cosmology, to their logical, methodological, and philosophical premises. The journal welcomes papers on issues such as the foundations of special and general relativity, quantum theory, classical and quantum field theory, quantum gravity, unified theories, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, cosmology, and similar.