The Quantum Measurement Problem: A Review of Recent Trends
arXiv:2502.19278 · doi:10.1080/14786435.2025.2601922
Abstract
Left on its own, a quantum state evolves deterministically under the Schrödinger Equation, forming superpositions. Upon measurement, however, a stochastic process governed by the Born rule collapses it to a single outcome. This dual evolution of quantum states -- the core of the Measurement Problem -- has puzzled physicists and philosophers for nearly a century. Yet, amid the cacophony of competing interpretations, the problem today is not as impenetrable as it once seemed. This paper reviews the current status of the Measurement Problem, distinguishing between what is well understood and what remains unresolved. We examine key theoretical approaches, including decoherence, many-worlds interpretation, objective collapse theories, hidden-variable theories, dualistic approaches, deterministic models, and epistemic interpretations. To make these discussions accessible to a broader audience, we also reference curated online resources that provide high-quality introductions to central concepts.
59 pages and 8 figures; typos corrected, added references, and improved and refined sections/subsections. To appear in the Philosophical Magazine C special issue "Bohm in Brazil: Reflections on 100 years of quantum"
References in corpus (62)
- Berry Phase Effects on Electronic Properties
- Quantum computational chemistry
- Relational Quantum Mechanics
- Models of Wave-function Collapse, Underlying Theories, and Experimental Tests
- Hidden Variables and the Two Theorems of John Bell
- On the reality of the quantum state
- Dynamical Reduction Models
- A short introduction to the Lindblad Master Equation
- Quantum Darwinism
- An Introduction to QBism with an Application to the Locality of Quantum Mechanics
- Is the quantum state real? An extended review of -ontology theorems
- Quantum mechanics and the covariance of physical laws in quantum reference frames
- Probabilities from Entanglement, Born's Rule from Envariance
- Colloquium: Quantum Batteries
- Quantum limit of decoherence: Environment induced superselection of energy eigenstates
- Is Quantum Gravity Necessary?
- A strong no-go theorem on the Wigner's friend paradox
- Cosmic Bell Test: Measurement Settings from Milky Way Stars
- Cosmic Bell Test using Random Measurement Settings from High-Redshift Quasars
- Rethinking Superdeterminism
- Underground test of gravity-related wave function collapse
- Present status and future challenges of non-interferometric tests of collapse models
- A change of perspective: switching quantum reference frames via a perspective-neutral framework
- Inflationary Cosmology as a Probe of Primordial Quantum Mechanics
- Continuous measurements, quantum trajectories, and decoherent histories
- Ultraviolet superradiance from mega-networks of tryptophan in biological architectures
- Collapse models with non-white noises
- Quantum state diffusion, localization and computation
- Exploring the unification of quantum theory and general relativity with a Bose-Einstein condensate
- Quantum superposition of spacetimes obeys Einstein's Equivalence Principle
- "Space is blue and birds fly through it"
- A detector-based measurement theory for quantum field theory
- Direct observation of geometric phase in dynamics around a conical intersection
- Computing the wavefunction from trajectories: particle and wave pictures in quantum mechanics and their relation
- Gravitationally induced decoherence vs space-time diffusion: testing the quantum nature of gravity
- Impossible measurements require impossible apparatus
- Testing the foundations of quantum physics in space Interferometric and non-interferometric tests with Large Particles
- Indeterminism in Physics, Classical Chaos and Bohmian Mechanics. Are Real Numbers Really Real?
- Realism about the Wave Function
- Collapse Models: a theoretical, experimental and philosophical review
- Reconstruction of Bloch wavefunctions of holes in a semiconductor
- Energy Non-Conservation in Quantum Mechanics
- Does it Make Sense to Speak of Self-Locating Uncertainty in the Universal Wave Function? Remarks on Sebens and Carroll
- Foundations of Quantum Information for Physical Chemistry
- The Basics of Quantum Computing for Chemists
- A Toy Model for Local and Deterministic Wave-function Collapse
- Onthological models predictively inequivalent to quantum theory
- Many Worlds, the Born Rule, and Self-Locating Uncertainty
- Is it time to rethink quantum gravity?
- On the effectiveness of the collapse in the Diósi-Penrose model
- Ozawa's Intersubjectivity Theorem as objection to QBism individual agent perspective
- The Stochastic-Quantum Correspondence
- Emergence of the Classical from within the Quantum Universe
- On the conjectured gravity-related collapse rate of massive quantum superpositions
- Diffraction of atomic matter waves through a 2D crystal
- Is the Statistical Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics -Ontic or -Epistemic?
- The collapse of a quantum state as a joint probability construction
- Probability in many-worlds theories
- Relational Quantum Mechanics and Contextuality
- Towards a measurement theory in QFT: "Impossible" quantum measurements are possible but not ideal
- Improved bounds on collapse models from rotational noise of LISA Pathfinder
- Ozawa's Intersubjectivity Theorem as justification of RQM's postulate on internally consistent descriptions