Series: Physics Colloquium
As experiments probe quantum phenomena ever more deeply, it becomes difficult to believe that there is anything other than pure, unitary, quantum time evolution. Without wave-function collapse, the physicist is left with the many-worlds interpretation as the source of quantum indeterminism. (I say "physicist" because I can't defend against all philosophical contortions.)
However, if one is willing to take a radical view of statistical mechanics, it is possible to have only unitary time evolution, and still have a single "world." I will explain just what that radical departure is and how one achieves quantum determinism. A basic assumption/explanation with be "special" microscopic states. Finally, I will describe an experimental test of these ideas that is well within the realm of feasibility.