Abstract
A class of theories alternative to standard quantum mechanics, including that of Ghirardi et al ('GRWP'), postulates that when a quantum superposition becomes amplified to the point that the superposed states reach some level of 'macroscopic distinctness', then some non-quantum-mechanical principle comes into play and realizes one or other of the two macroscopic outcomes. Without specializing to any particular theory of this class, I ask how far such 'macrorealistic' theories are generically constrained, if one insists that the physical reduction process should respect Einstein locality, by the results of existing EPR-Bell experiments. I conclude that provided one does not demand that the prescription for reduction respects Lorentz invariance, at least some theories of this type, while in principle inevitably making some predictions that conflict with those of standard quantum mechanics, are not refuted by any existing experiment.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 3141-3149 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical |
Volume | 40 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 23 2007 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
- Statistics and Probability
- Modeling and Simulation
- Mathematical Physics
- Physics and Astronomy(all)