Intrinsic irreversibility in quantum theory

Ilya Prigogine and Tomio Y. Petrosky

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 1987, vol. 147, issue 1, 33-47

Abstract: Quantum theory has a dual structure: while the Schrödinger equation corresponds to a deterministic and time-reversible description, measurement introduces irreversibility and stochastisity.' This contrasts with the Bohr-Sommerfeld-Einstein theory, in which transitions between quantum states are associated with spontaneous and induced transitions, defined in terms of stochastic processes. A new form of quantum theory is presented here, which contains an intrinsic form of irreversibility, independent of observation. This new form applies to situations corresponding to a continuous spectrum and to quantum states with finite life time. The usual non-commutative algebra associated to quantum theory is replaced by more general algebra, in which operators are also non-distributive. Our approach leads to a number of predictions, which hopefully may be verified or refuted in the next years.

Date: 1987
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:147:y:1987:i:1:p:33-47

DOI: 10.1016/0378-4371(87)90095-1

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