Physical Reality and Information - Three Hypotheses

TL;DR

This paper proposes three hypotheses redefining physical reality in quantum mechanics, emphasizing information's role and the independence of information creation from the Schrödinger equation, challenging classical notions of reality.

Contribution

It introduces three novel hypotheses that redefine quantum reality, emphasizing information and the measurement process, supported by objective conditional probabilities.

Findings

Prior to measurement, systems are not in a quantum state.

Reality is defined by available classical information.

Information creation is an independent process outside Schrödinger dynamics.

Abstract

Since its emergence, quantum mechanics has been a challenge for an understanding of reality which is based on our intuition in a classical world. Nevertheless, it has often been tried to impose this understanding of reality on quantum theory - with limited success. Instead, it might be a better alternative to redefine the meaning of physical reality. This is the objective of the paper. A consideration of the quantum measurement process, conditional probabilities and some well-known typical quantum physical experiments provides the reasoning for the following three hypotheses: (1) Prior to a first measurement, a physical system is not in a quantum state. (2) Physical reality is all that and only that about which (classical) information is available in the universe. (3) Information creation is an independent process and is not covered by the Schroedinger equation. It is the first step of the quantum measurement process and does not have a classical counterpart. The first hypothesis makes sense only if the quantum measurement process can be described without presupposing an initial state for the system under consideration. This becomes possible by the objective conditional probabilities which represent the transition probabilities between the outcomes of successive quantum measurements and have been introduced by the author in some recent papers. The second hypothesis holds as well in the classical case, but a certain incompleteness of reality is typical of quantum mechanics and the origin of many quantum phenomena. Classically, the existence of a complete reality is presumed, and hypothesis 3 has no meaning then.