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A Review of Practical Tests of Qantum Mechanics in Macroscopic Domain and its Relevance to the Measurement Problem

Aghapour, Sajad | 2011

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  1. Type of Document: M.Sc. Thesis
  2. Language: Farsi
  3. Document No: 42302 (04)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology
  5. Department: Physics
  6. Advisor(s): Golshani, Mehdi
  7. Abstract:
  8. The measurement problem is one of the issues that is still under debate about the Quantum theory. A significant part of literature during the recent years includes the standard point of view about this problem (including the separation of microscopic and macroscopic domains) and the criticisms of some major physicists in this context. Among these, alternative theories and interpretations have been getting more attention. Experimental tests of Quantum Mechanics in the macroscopic domain and their comparison with alternative theories have always encountered various difficulties (in particular the decoherence phenomenon). Anyway, towards the end of the last century, with the advances in technology (and the promising developments in the practical field of quantum information and computation), the motivation for performing such tests increased. Professor Leggett, the known condensed matter physicist, is among those who have played an important role in establishing and advancing this branch, and he has paid special attention to the fundamental issues of it. Various experimental groups have also conducted different experiments in this field. Among the domains that have been studied for macroscopic quantum effects, we can name the diffraction of heavy molecules like $\text{C}_{\text{60}}$ , macroscopic quantum tunneling of biomolecules, quantum optical systems, superconducting instruments and so on. In this thesis, the measurement problem and different attitudes towards it have been reviewed. Among these, the dynamical collapse theory of Ghirardi and his colleagues is mentioned as an alternative theory in this area. Leggett's suggestions for experimental tests are then studied and finally some of the experiments performed in this area (especially in the field of superconductivity) are demonstrated
  9. Keywords:
  10. Quantum Mechanics ; Decoherence ; Measurement Problem ; Macroscopic Domain ; Legget-Garg Inequalities

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