Classicality, the ensemble interpretation, and decoherence: Resolving the Hyperion dispute

Abstract

We analyze seemingly contradictory claims in the literature about the role played by decoherence in ensuring classical behavior for the chaotically tumbling satellite Hyperion. We show that the controversy is resolved once the very different assumptions underlying these claims are recognized. In doing so, we emphasize the distinct notions of the problem of classicality in the ensemble interpretation of quantum mechanics and in decoherence-based approaches that are aimed at addressing the measurement problem.

5 pages, final published version

References in corpus (3)

• Decoherence, einselection, and the quantum origins of the classical
• Decoherence, chaos, quantum-classical correspondence, and the algorithmic arrow of time
• The Quantum Mechanics of Hyperion

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• Copenhagen Quantum Mechanics
• Incoherent? No, Just Decoherent: How Quantum Many Worlds Emerge
• When quantum corrections alter the predictions of classical field theory for scalar field dark matter
• Decoherence of Histories: Chaotic Versus Integrable Systems
• Linear superposition as a core theorem of quantum empiricism