Macroscopic Quantum Systems and the Quantum Theory of Measurement

概要

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This paper discusses the question : How far do experiments on the socalled "macroscopic quantum systems" such as superfluids and superconductors test the hypothesis that the linear Schrodinger equation may be extrapolated to arbitrarily complex systems? It is shown that the familiar "macroscopic quantum phenomena" such as flux quantization and the Josephson effect are irrelevant in this context, because they correspond to states having a very small value of a certain critical property (christened "disconnectivity") while the states important for a discussion of the quantum theory of measurement have a very high value of this property. Various possibilities for verifying experimentally the existence of such states are discussed, with the conclusion that the most promising is probably the observation of quantum tunnelling between states with macroscopically different properties. It is shown that because of their very high "quantum purity" and consequent very low dissipation at low temperatures, superconducting systems (in particular SQUID rings) offer good prospects for such an observation.
理論物理学刊行会の論文
1981-06-10