Version 1
: Received: 14 April 2024 / Approved: 15 April 2024 / Online: 16 April 2024 (11:04:35 CEST)
How to cite:
Harvey-Tremblay, A. The Prescribed Observation Problem: The Empirical Genesis of Quantum Physics. Preprints2024, 2024041009. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1009.v1
Harvey-Tremblay, A. The Prescribed Observation Problem: The Empirical Genesis of Quantum Physics. Preprints 2024, 2024041009. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1009.v1
Harvey-Tremblay, A. The Prescribed Observation Problem: The Empirical Genesis of Quantum Physics. Preprints2024, 2024041009. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1009.v1
APA Style
Harvey-Tremblay, A. (2024). The Prescribed Observation Problem: The Empirical Genesis of Quantum Physics. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1009.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Harvey-Tremblay, A. 2024 "The Prescribed Observation Problem: The Empirical Genesis of Quantum Physics" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1009.v1
Abstract
Quantum mechanics, despite its remarkable empirical success, has been subject to longstanding interpretational challenges. This work introduces the Prescribed Observation Problem (POP) framework, which derives the complete formulation of quantum theory from the empirical basis of measurement outcomes, treated as an optimization constraint. Rather than postulating quantum principles axiomatically, the POP framework formulates quantum mechanics as the solution to an entropy maximization problem subject to this constraint, resulting in quantum theory's axioms emerging as theorems – the optimal, least biased probability measure consistent with the given measurement data. Notably, the POP framework is sufficiently powerful to reduce the foundation of quantum mechanics to a single axiom. Conventionally, interpretations of quantum mechanics need only align with the theory's postulated axioms, allowing for a plurality of viable interpretations that cannot definitively rule each other out. In contrast, the POP framework derives the axioms as theorems directly from empirical first principles, grounding them in observational constraints from the outset. This substantially restricts the allowable theoretical landscape, imposing stringent requirements for the viability of interpretations and invalidating all those that contradict this genesis. By engendering quantum theory from a formal empirical footing, the POP framework offers a compelling resolution to the enduring interpretational puzzles that have long plagued the field, effectively eliminating all but one interpretation consistent with both the axioms and their empirical genesis.
Keywords
foundations of quantum physics
Subject
Physical Sciences, Quantum Science and Technology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
