Quantum-classical interactions and measurement: a consistent description using statistical ensembles on configuration space

Abstract

We provide an overview of a canonical formalism that describes mixed quantum-classical systems in terms of statistical ensembles on configuration space, and discuss applications to measurement theory. It is shown that the formalism allows a general description of the measurement of a quantum system by a classical apparatus without running into inconsistencies. An example of classical and quantum particles interacting gravitationally is also given.

8 pages, 1 figure. To appear in the proceedings of the DICE2008 conference, Castiglioncello, Tuscany, Italy, 22-26 Sep. 2008

References in corpus (7)

• Hybrid classical-quantum dynamics
• Impediments to mixing classical and quantum dynamics
• Interacting classical and quantum ensembles
• Measurement Analysis and Quantum Gravity
• Consistent classical and quantum mixed dynamics
• Exact uncertainty principle and quantization: implications for the gravitational field
• Comment on ``A quantum-classical bracket that satisfies the Jacobi identity'' [J. Chem. Phys. 124, 201104 (2006)]

Cited by in corpus (17)

• Linear dynamics of quantum-classical hybrids
• A no-go theorem on the nature of the gravitational field beyond quantum theory
• Statistical consistency of quantum-classical hybrids
• The gravity-related decoherence master equation from hybrid dynamics
• Any consistent coupling between classical gravity and quantum matter is fundamentally irreversible
• Four questions for quantum-classical hybrid theory
• General linear dynamics - quantum, classical or hybrid
• Entropic Updating of Probability and Density Matrices
• Proliferation of observables and measurement in quantum-classical hybrids
• Interacting classical and quantum particles
• Decoherence and the conditions for the classical control of quantum systems
• Classical-Quantum Coexistence: a `Free Will' Test
• Nonlocal signaling in the configuration space model of quantum-classical interactions
• Classical-quantum limits
• Classical dynamics from a unitary representation of the Galilei group
• A Pedestrian Approach to the Measurement Problem in Quantum Mechanics
• Cosmology with quantum matter and a classical gravitational field: the approach of configuration-space ensembles