Objective Reality of Pointer States

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that pointer states resulting from decoherence can be objectively measured in a single measurement without prior knowledge, supporting their objective existence in quantum systems.

Contribution

It introduces a method to measure expectation values of any observable in pointer states without prior state knowledge, highlighting their objective reality.

Findings

Pointer states allow measurement of any observable in a single measurement.

Measurement of expectation values confirms the objective existence of pointer states.

Decoherence leads to states that can be objectively identified through measurement.

Abstract

It is shown that the nature of quantum states that emerge from decoherence is such that one can {\em measure} the expectation value of any observable of the system in a single measurement. This can be done even when such pointer states are a priori unknown. The possibility of measuring the expectation value of any observable, without any prior knowledge of the state, points to the objective existence of such states.