Abstract
Quantum theory depends on an external classical time, and there ought to exist an equivalent reformulation of the theory which does not depend on such a time. The demand for the existence of such a reformulation suggests that quantum theory is an approximation to a stochastic non-linear theory. The stochastic non-linearity provides a dynamical explanation for the collapse of the wave-function during a quantum measurement. Hence the problem of time and the measurement problem are related to each other: the search for a solution for the former problem naturally implies a solution for the latter problem.
Based on a talk given at the conference Quantum Malta 2012:
Fundamental Problems in Quantum Physics
University of Malta, Malta, April 24-27, 2012 Submitted to the volume The Forgotten Present (running title),
Thomas Filk and Albrecht von Müller (Editors)
Dedicated to Malala Yousafzai, for her extraordinary courage
and support for the cause of education and knowledge
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Acknowledgements
It is a pleasure to thank Angelo Bassi, Suratna Das, Kinjalk Lochan and Hendrik Ulbricht for collaboration and fruitful discussions. I would like to thank the organizers of the conference Quantum Malta 2012 for holding a very stimulating conference, and the conference participants for insightful discussions. I am grateful to Thomas Filk for illuminating conversations on quantum theory, and for encouraging me to write this article. I would also like to thank Albrecht von Müller and the Parmenides Foundation for organizing the Parmenides Workshop: The present perspectives from physics and philosophy (Wildbad Kreuth, Germany, October, 2006) where some early ideas leading to the present work were described [2].
This work was made possible through the support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation. The support of the Foundational Questions Institute is also gratefully acknowledged.
A much more detailed bibliography of works relevant to this article can be found in [9].
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Singh, T.P. (2015). The Problem of Time and the Problem of Quantum Measurement. In: von Müller, A., Filk, T. (eds) Re-Thinking Time at the Interface of Physics and Philosophy. On Thinking, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10446-1_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10446-1_8
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