Experimental tests of alternate postulates to describe excited-state decay in DeWitt-like and Everett-like versions of quantum mechanics

TL;DR

This paper tests alternative quantum mechanics postulates for excited-state decay, showing that Everett's formalism is insufficient and that certain DeWitt-like extensions are incompatible with experimental data, especially tritium lifetime measurements.

Contribution

It demonstrates the limitations of Everett's and DeWitt-like formulations in describing excited-state decay through simulations and experimental comparisons.

Findings

Everett's formalism cannot fully describe excited-state decay.

Tritium lifetime measurements exclude all plausible DeWitt-like extensions.

Experimental data constrain Everett-like extensions to minimal effects.

Abstract

Simulations of the observed transition rate (decay rate) versus time for excited-state decay in Everett's relative-state formulation of quantum mechanics and DeWitt-like extension of Everett's formulation are described. It is shown that Everett's formalism is not general enough to describe excited-state decay, and that tritium lifetime measurements rule out all plausible DeWitt-like extensions. Furthermore, comparison of lifetime measurements and first-principles calculations of excited electronic states of simple atoms limit Everett-like extensions to a small effect for these atoms.