The Slicing Theory of Quantum Measurement: Derivation of Transient Many Worlds Behavior

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new theory of quantum measurement based on many-body wavefunctions, leading to an emergent many-worlds interpretation with a natural arrow of time and implications for consciousness and universe evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a slicing theory of quantum measurement that explains classical emergence and many-worlds behavior from many-body wavefunctions interacting with condensed matter.

Findings

Provides a mechanism for classical-like islands in many-body wavefunctions.

Resolves causality issues in quantum measurement.

Suggests universe evolution impacts consciousness and time arrow.

Abstract

An emergent theory of quantum measurement arises directly by considering the particular subset of many body wavefunctions that can be associated with classical condensed matter and its interaction with delocalized wavefunctions. This transfers questions of the "strangeness" of quantum mechanics from the wavefunction to the macroscopic material itself. An effectively many-worlds picture of measurement results for long times and induces a natural arrow of time. The challenging part is then justifying why our macroscopic world is dominated by such far-from-eigenstate matter. Condensing cold mesoscopic clusters provide a pathway to a partitioning of a highly correlated many body wavefunction to long lasting islands composed of classical-like bodies widely separated in Fock space. Low mass rapidly delocalizing matter that recombines with the solids "slice" the system into a set of nearby yet very weakly interacting subsystems weighted according to the Born statistics and yields a kind of many worlds picture but with the possibility of revived phase interference on iterative particle desorption, delocalization and readsorption. A proliferation of low energy photons competes with such a possibility. Causality problems associated with correlated quantum measurement are resolved and conserved quantities are preserved for the overall many body function despite their failure in each observer's bifurcating "slice-path." The necessity of such a state for a two state logic and reliable discrete state machine suggests that later stages of the universe's evolution will destroy the physical underpinnings required for consciousness and the arrow of time even without heat-death or atomic destruction. Some exotic possibilities outside the domain of usual quantum measurement are considered such as measurement with delocalized devices and revival of information from past measurements.