TY - JOUR
T1 - Meaning of the wave function
AU - Aharonov, Y.
AU - Anandan, J.
AU - Vaidman, L.
PY - 1993
Y1 - 1993
N2 - So far, the wave function has been interpreted as a probability amplitude, which is given physical meaning by ensemble averages of a large number of identical systems at a given time. We give an alternative interpretation of the wave function for a single system by means of a measurement which lasts a long time. This is a measurement on a single quantum system which determines the expectation values of (not necessarily commuting) observables while the wave function is protected from collapsing because it undergoes another suitably chosen interaction. This type of measurement enables the distinction between states which are not orthogonal, but are protected by a suitable interaction with the states of their environment, even for a single system. It therefore gives a different ontological meaning to the wave function. Several experiments in which such a measurement is realized, which can in principle be performed using electrons, neutrons, or atoms, are studied.
AB - So far, the wave function has been interpreted as a probability amplitude, which is given physical meaning by ensemble averages of a large number of identical systems at a given time. We give an alternative interpretation of the wave function for a single system by means of a measurement which lasts a long time. This is a measurement on a single quantum system which determines the expectation values of (not necessarily commuting) observables while the wave function is protected from collapsing because it undergoes another suitably chosen interaction. This type of measurement enables the distinction between states which are not orthogonal, but are protected by a suitable interaction with the states of their environment, even for a single system. It therefore gives a different ontological meaning to the wave function. Several experiments in which such a measurement is realized, which can in principle be performed using electrons, neutrons, or atoms, are studied.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0000783417&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevA.47.4616
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevA.47.4616
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AN - SCOPUS:0000783417
SN - 1050-2947
VL - 47
SP - 4616
EP - 4626
JO - Physical Review A
JF - Physical Review A
IS - 6
ER -