Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Wang, Yanting
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.04154
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866914140377841664
author Wang, Yanting
author_facet Wang, Yanting
contents By comparing Schrödinger's cat with its classical counterpart, I show that a quantum superposition should be understood as an expectation over possible eigenstates weighted by wave-like probabilities. Upon the occurrence of a certain event, the quantum system is randomly realized into one of the possible eigenstates due to its intrinsic stochasticity. While the randomness of a single realization cannot be controlled or predicted, the overall distribution can be regulated via experimental setup and converges as the number of events increases. A measurement is indeed an activity employing a certain event to convert a quantum effect into a macroscopic outcome. Consequently, the puzzling concepts of wavefunction collapse, many worlds, and decoherence become unnecessary for understanding quantum superposition. This expectation-realization interpretation, which integrates probability theory with wave mechanics, can also be extended to quantum pathways. Moreover, it reframes tests of Bell's inequalities as validating the wave-like probability nature of quantum mechanics, with no need to invoke the mysterious notions of quantum non-locality and "spooky action at a distance".
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_04154
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Expectation-Realization Interpretation of Quantum Superposition
Wang, Yanting
Quantum Physics
By comparing Schrödinger's cat with its classical counterpart, I show that a quantum superposition should be understood as an expectation over possible eigenstates weighted by wave-like probabilities. Upon the occurrence of a certain event, the quantum system is randomly realized into one of the possible eigenstates due to its intrinsic stochasticity. While the randomness of a single realization cannot be controlled or predicted, the overall distribution can be regulated via experimental setup and converges as the number of events increases. A measurement is indeed an activity employing a certain event to convert a quantum effect into a macroscopic outcome. Consequently, the puzzling concepts of wavefunction collapse, many worlds, and decoherence become unnecessary for understanding quantum superposition. This expectation-realization interpretation, which integrates probability theory with wave mechanics, can also be extended to quantum pathways. Moreover, it reframes tests of Bell's inequalities as validating the wave-like probability nature of quantum mechanics, with no need to invoke the mysterious notions of quantum non-locality and "spooky action at a distance".
title Expectation-Realization Interpretation of Quantum Superposition
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.04154