arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Donald McCartor.
Hourglass is the name given here to a formal isolated quantum system that can radiate. Starting from a time when it defines the system it represents clearly and no radiation is present, it is given straightforward Hamiltonian evolution. The question of what significance hourglasses have is raised, and this question is proposed to be more consequential than the measurement problem.
One would not think that thought experiments could matter to nature, for they are a humble human device. Yet quantum mechanics very naturally frames thought experiments (as distinct from precisely defining what exists). They exemplify the informing powers of radiation. Though based on wave functions that have time symmetry, these tableaux inevitably tell of irreversible behavior by nature. The paper sketches how John von Neumann's measurement theory fits into this and retells N. David Mermin's baseball story.