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Eric Tesse

Publications and source records attributed to Eric Tesse.

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A simple means for deriving quantum mechanics

A type of mechanics will be presented that possesses some distinctive properties. On the one hand, its physical description & rules of operation are readily comprehensible & intuitively clear. On the other, it fully satisfies all observable predictions of non-relativistic quantum mechanics. Within it, particles exist at points in space, follow continuous, piecewise differentiable paths, and their linear momentum is equal to their mass times their velocity along their path. Yet the probabilities for position and momentum, conditioned on the state of the particle's environment, follow the rules of quantum theory. Indeed, all observable consequences of quantum theory are satisfied; particles can be entangled, have intrinsic spin, this spin is not local to the particle, particle identity can effect probabilities, and so forth. All the rules of quantum mechanics are obeyed, and all arise in a straightforward fashion. After this is established, connections will be drawn out between this type of mechanics and other types of quantum worlds; those that obey Bohmian mechanics, stochastic mechanics, the many worlds interpretation, and physical collapse. In the final section, a relativistic version of the mechanics will be presented.

quant-ph

The trouble with recording devices

Quantum theory encounters a difficulty when attempting to describe recording devices. If the recording is of events in which quantum uncertainty plays a role, such as an experiment on a quantum system, quantum theory is unable to correctly predict the probabilities of both future and past states of the recording. The nature of this difficulty will be laid out at the outset. A resolution then will be presented, in which the Born rule will be lightly amended so as to correctly predict all probabilities. The resolution will have the further benefit of clarifying how quantum theory applies to an array of situations in which the theory can be ambiguous, such as the descriptions of continuous measurements, and of closed systems containing all observers.

quant-ph

A formal theory of experimentation

A formal theory of experimentation will be presented. Such a theory presents the necessary & sufficient conditions a world must satisfy in order to admit the use of the scientific method.

physics.gen-ph