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arXiv · 0705.2357

The inevitable nonlinearity of quantum gravity falsifies the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics

Abstract

There are fundamental reasons as to why there should exist a reformulation of quantum mechanics which does not refer to a classical spacetime manifold. It follows as a consequence that quantum mechanics as we know it is a limiting case of a more general nonlinear quantum theory, with the nonlinearity becoming significant at the Planck mass/energy scale. This nonlinearity is responsible for a dynamically induced collapse of the wave-function, during a quantum measurement, and it hence falsifies the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. We illustrate this conclusion using a mathematical model based on a generalized Doebner-Goldin equation. The non-Hermitian part of the Hamiltonian in this norm-preserving, nonlinear, Schrodinger equation dominates during a quantum measurement, and leads to a breakdown of linear superposition.

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T. P. Singh. 2007-05-16. The inevitable nonlinearity of quantum gravity falsifies the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. https://doi.org/10.1142/s0218271808012346

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