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Quantum Formalism with State-Collapse and Superluminal Communication

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Abstract

Given the collapse hypothesis (CH) of quantum measurement, EPR-type correlations along with the hypothesis of the impossibility of superluminal communication (ISC) have the effect of globalizing gross features of the quantum formalism making them universally true. In particular, these hypotheses imply that state transformations of density matrices must be linear and that evolution which preserves purity of states must also be linear. A gedanken experiment shows that Lorentz covariance along with the second law of thermodynamics imply a nonentropic version of ISC. Partial results using quantum logic suggest, given ISC and a version of CH, a connection between Lorentz covariance and the covering law. These results show that standard quantum mechanics is structurally unstable, and suggest that viable relativistic alternatives must question CH. One may also speculate that some features of the Hilbert-space model of quantum mechanics have their origin in space time structure.

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  1. George Svetlichny
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Svetlichny, G. Quantum Formalism with State-Collapse and Superluminal Communication. Foundations of Physics 28, 131–155 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018726717481

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