TY - JOUR
T1 - How to protect the interpretation of the wave function against protective measurements
AU - Uffink, Jos
PY - 1999/11
Y1 - 1999/11
N2 - A new type of procedures, called protective measurements, was proposed by Aharonov, Anandan, and Vaidman [Phys. Rev. A 97, 4616 (1993); Found. Phys. 26, 117 (1996)]. These authors argued that a protective measurement allows the determination of arbitrary observables of a single quantum system, and claimed that this favors a realistic interpretation of the quantum state. This paper proves that only observables that commute with the system’s Hamiltonian can be measured protectively. It is argued that this restriction saves the coherence of alternative interpretations.
AB - A new type of procedures, called protective measurements, was proposed by Aharonov, Anandan, and Vaidman [Phys. Rev. A 97, 4616 (1993); Found. Phys. 26, 117 (1996)]. These authors argued that a protective measurement allows the determination of arbitrary observables of a single quantum system, and claimed that this favors a realistic interpretation of the quantum state. This paper proves that only observables that commute with the system’s Hamiltonian can be measured protectively. It is argued that this restriction saves the coherence of alternative interpretations.
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U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevA.60.3474
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevA.60.3474
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0346302776
SN - 1050-2947
VL - 60
SP - 3474
EP - 3481
JO - Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
JF - Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
IS - 5
ER -