arXiv subjects

Murray Gell-Mann

Publications and source records attributed to Murray Gell-Mann.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

Decoherent Histories Quantum Mechanics and Copenhagen Quantum Mechanics

This paper discusses the relation between the decoherent histories approach to quantum mechanics that is based on coarse-grained decoherent histories of a closed system, and the approximate quantum mechanics of measured subsystems, as in the Copenhagen interpretation. We show how the a classical world used in such formulations is not to something to be postulated but rather explained by suitable sets of alternative histories of quasiclassical variables. We discuss the general definition of measurement, the collapse of the wave function, and irreversibility from the perspective of decoherent histories quantum theory..

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

A Measure of Classicality

A striking feature of our fundamentally indeterministic quantum universe is its quasiclassical realm -- the wide range of time place and scale in which the deterministic laws of classical physics hold. Our quasiclassical realmis an emergent feature of the fundamental theories of our universe's quantum state and dynamics. There are many types of quasiclassical realms our Universe could exhibit characterized by different variables, different levels of coarse-graining, different locations in spacetime, different classical physics, and different levels of classicality.We propose a measure of classicality for quasiclassical realms, We speculate on the observable consequences of different levels of classicality especially for information gathering and utilizing systems (IGUSes) such ourselves as observers of the Universe.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2019

Alternative Decohering Histories in Quantum Mechanics

We continue our efforts to understand, within the framework of the quantum mechanics of the universe as a whole, the quasiclassical realm of familiar experience as a feature emergent from the Hamiltonian of the elementary particles and the initial condition of the universe. Quantum mechanics assigns probabilities to exhaustive sets of alternative decoherent histories of the universe. We introduce and define the notion of strong decoherence. We replace the notion of maximal sets of alternative decohering histories by defining the more useful concept of "full" sets of alternative strongly decohering histories. These full sets fall into equivalence classes each of which is characterized by a basis in Hilbert space. Finally we describe our continuing efforts to find measures of classicality --- measures that could be applied to such full sets of alternative strongly decohering so as to characterize a quasiclassical realm.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Quantum Mechanics in the Light of Quantum Cosmology

We sketch a quantum mechanical framework for the universe as a whole. Within that framework we propose a program for describing the ultimate origin in quantum cosmology of the quasiclassical domain of familiar experience and for characterizing the process of measurement. Predictions in quantum mechanics are made from probabilities for sets of alternative histories. Probabilities can be assigned only to sets of histories that approximately decohere. Decoherence is defined and the mechanism of decoherence is reviewed. Decoherence requires a sufficiently coarse-grained description of alternative histories of the universe. A quasiclassical domain consists of a branching set of alternative decohering histories, described by a coarse graining that is maximally refined consistent with decoherence, with individual branches that exhibit a high level of classical correlation in time. A quasiclassical domain is emergent in the universe as a consequence of the initial condition and the action function of the elementary particles. It is an important question whether all the quasiclassical domains are roughly equivalent or whether there are various essentially inequivalent ones. A measurement is a correlation with variables in a quasiclassical domain. An observer (or information gathering and utilizing system) is a complex adaptive system that has evolved to exploit the relative predictability of a quasiclassical domain. We suggest that resolution of many of the problems of interpretation presented by quantum mechanics is to be accomplished, not by further scrutiny of the subject as it applies to reproducible laboratory situations, but rather by an examination of alternative histories of the universe, stemming from its initial condition, and a study of the problem of quasiclassical domains.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Evaluating gambles using dynamics

Gambles are random variables that model possible changes in monetary wealth. Classic decision theory transforms money into utility through a utility function and defines the value of a gamble as the expectation value of utility changes. Utility functions aim to capture individual psychological characteristics, but their generality limits predictive power. Expectation value maximizers are defined as rational in economics, but expectation values are only meaningful in the presence of ensembles or in systems with ergodic properties, whereas decision-makers have no access to ensembles and the variables representing wealth in the usual growth models do not have the relevant ergodic properties. Simultaneously addressing the shortcomings of utility and those of expectations, we propose to evaluate gambles by averaging wealth growth over time. No utility function is needed, but a dynamic must be specified to compute time averages. Linear and logarithmic "utility functions" appear as transformations that generate ergodic observables for purely additive and purely multiplicative dynamics, respectively. We highlight inconsistencies throughout the development of decision theory, whose correction clarifies that our perspective is legitimate. These invalidate a commonly cited argument for bounded utility functions.

econ.GN↗

arXiv2014

Incidence of $q$-statistics in rank distributions

We show that size-rank distributions with power-law decay (often only over a limited extent) observed in a vast number of instances in a widespread family of systems obey Tsallis statistics. The theoretical framework for these distributions is analogous to that of a nonlinear iterated map near a tangent bifurcation for which the Lyapunov exponent is negligible or vanishes. The relevant statistical-mechanical expressions associated with these distributions are derived from a maximum entropy principle with the use of two different constraints, and the resulting duality of entropy indexes is seen to portray physically relevant information. While the value of the index $α$ fixes the distribution's power-law exponent, that for the dual index $2-α$ ensures the extensivity of the deformed entropy.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2014

How multiplicity determines entropy and the derivation of the maximum entropy principle for complex systems

The maximum entropy principle (MEP) is a method for obtaining the most likely distribution functions of observables from statistical systems, by maximizing entropy under constraints. The MEP has found hundreds of applications in ergodic and Markovian systems in statistical mechanics, information theory, and statistics. For several decades there exists an ongoing controversy whether the notion of the maximum entropy principle can be extended in a meaningful way to non-extensive, non-ergodic, and complex statistical systems and processes. In this paper we start by reviewing how Boltzmann-Gibbs-Shannon entropy is related to multiplicities of independent random processes. We then show how the relaxation of independence naturally leads to the most general entropies that are compatible with the first three Shannon-Khinchin axioms, the (c,d)-entropies. We demonstrate that the MEP is a perfectly consistent concept for non-ergodic and complex statistical systems if their relative entropy can be factored into a generalized multiplicity and a constraint term. The problem of finding such a factorization reduces to finding an appropriate representation of relative entropy in a linear basis. In a particular example we show that path-dependent random processes with memory naturally require specific generalized entropies. The example is the first exact derivation of a generalized entropy from the microscopic properties of a path-dependent random process.

physics.class-ph↗

arXiv2014

Classical Equations for Quantum Systems

The origin of the phenomenological deterministic laws that approximately govern the quasiclassical domain of familiar experience is considered in the context of the quantum mechanics of closed systems such as the universe as a whole. We investigate the requirements for coarse grainings to yield decoherent sets of histories that are quasiclassical, i.e. such that the individual histories obey, with high probability, effective classical equations of motion interrupted continually by small fluctuations and occasionally by large ones. We discuss these requirements generally but study them specifically for coarse grainings of the type that follows a distinguished subset of a complete set of variables while ignoring the rest. More coarse graining is needed to achieve decoherence than would be suggested by naive arguments based on the uncertainty principle. Even coarser graining is required in the distinguished variables for them to have the necessary inertia to approach classical predictability in the presence of the noise consisting of the fluctuations that typical mechanisms of decoherence produce. We describe the derivation of phenomenological equations of motion explicitly for a particular class of models. Probabilities of the correlations in time that define equations of motion are explicitly considered. Fully non-linear cases are studied. Methods are exhibited for finding the form of the phenomenological equations of motion even when these are only distantly related to those of the fundamental action. The demonstration of the connection between quantum-mechanical causality and causalty in classical phenomenological equations of motion is generalized. The connections among decoherence, noise, dissipation, and the amount of coarse graining necessary to achieve classical predictability are investigated quantitatively.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2013

Adaptive Coarse Graining, Environment, Strong Decoherence, and Quasiclassical Realms

Three ideas are introduced that when brought together characterize the realistic quasiclassical realms of our quantum universe as particular kinds of sets of alternative coarse-grained histories defined by quasiclassical variables: (1) Branch dependent adaptive coarse grainings that can be close to maximally refined and can simplify calculation. (2) Narrative coarse grainings that describe how features of the universe change over time and allow the construction of an environment. (3) A notion of strong decoherence that characterizes realistic mechanisms of decoherence.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Complex Spinors and Unified Theories

In this paper delivered by Murray Gell-Mann at the Stony Brook Supergravity Workshop in 1979, several paths to unification are discussed, from N=8 supergravity to $SU_5$, $SO_{10}$, and $E_6$. Generalizations of $SO_{10}$ to spinor representations of larger groups are introduced. A natural mechanism for generating tiny neutrino masses is proposed in the context of $SO_{10}$, and finally, focus on $SU_3$ rather than $SU_2$ or $SO_3$ family symmetries is noted.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Generalized entropies and logarithms and their duality relations

For statistical systems that violate one of the four Shannon-Khinchin axioms, entropy takes a more general form than the Boltzmann-Gibbs entropy. The framework of superstatistics allows one to formulate a maximum entropy principle with these generalized entropies, making them useful for understanding distribution functions of non-Markovian or non-ergodic complex systems. For such systems where the composability axiom is violated there exist only two ways to implement the maximum entropy principle, one using escort probabilities, the other not. The two ways are connected through a duality. Here we show that this duality fixes a unique escort probability, which allows us to derive a complete theory of the generalized logarithms that naturally arise from the violation of this axiom. We then show how the functional forms of these generalized logarithms are related to the asymptotic scaling behavior of the entropy.

physics.class-ph↗

arXiv2011

Decoherent Histories Quantum Mechanics with One 'Real' Fine-Grained History

Decoherent histories quantum theory is reformulated with the assumption that there is one "real" fine-grained history, specified in a preferred complete set of sum-over-histories variables. This real history is described by embedding it in an ensemble of comparable imagined fine-grained histories, not unlike the familiar ensemble of statistical mechanics. These histories are assigned extended probabilities, which can sometimes be negative or greater than one. As we will show, this construction implies that the real history is not completely accessible to experimental or other observational discovery. However, sufficiently and appropriately coarse-grained sets of alternative histories have standard probabilities providing information about the real fine-grained history that can be compared with observation. We recover the probabilities of decoherent histories quantum mechanics for sets of histories that are recorded and therefore decohere. Quantum mechanics can be viewed as a classical stochastic theory of histories with extended probabilities and a well-defined notion of reality common to all decoherent sets of alternative coarse-grained histories.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Generalized entropies and the transformation group of superstatistics

Superstatistics describes statistical systems that behave like superpositions of different inverse temperatures $β$, so that the probability distribution is $p(ε_i) \propto \int_{0}^{\infty} f(β) e^{-βε_i}dβ$, where the `kernel' $f(β)$ is nonnegative and normalized ($\int f(β)d β=1$). We discuss the relation between this distribution and the generalized entropic form $S=\sum_i s(p_i)$. The first three Shannon-Khinchin axioms are assumed to hold. It then turns out that for a given distribution there are two different ways to construct the entropy. One approach uses escort probabilities and the other does not; the question of which to use must be decided empirically. The two approaches are related by a duality. The thermodynamic properties of the system can be quite different for the two approaches. In that connection we present the transformation laws for the superstatistical distributions under macroscopic state changes. The transformation group is the Euclidean group in one dimension.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2010

Generalization of symmetric $α$-stable Lévy distributions for $q>1$

The $α$-stable distributions introduced by Lévy play an important role in probabilistic theoretical studies and their various applications, e.g., in statistical physics, life sciences, and economics. In the present paper we study sequences of long-range dependent random variables whose distributions have asymptotic power law decay, and which are called $(q,α)$-stable distributions. These sequences are generalizations of i.i.d. $α$-stable distributions, and have not been previously studied. Long-range dependent $(q,α)$-stable distributions might arise in the description of anomalous processes in nonextensive statistical mechanics, cell biology, finance. The parameter $q$ controls dependence. If $q=1$ then they are classical i.i.d. with $α$-stable Lévy distributions. In the present paper we establish basic properties of $(q,α)$-stable distributions, and generalize the result of Umarov, Tsallis and Steinberg (2008), where the particular case $α=2, q\in [1,3),$ was considered, to the whole range of stability and nonextensivity parameters $α\in (0,2]$ and $q \in [1,3),$ respectively. We also discuss possible further extensions of the results that we obtain, and formulate some conjectures.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2008

Symmetric $(q,α)$-Stable Distributions. Part II: Second Representation

This paper is a continuation of papers \cite{UmarovTsallisSteinberg,UmarovTsallisGellmannSteinberg}. In Part I \cite{UmarovTsallisGellmannSteinberg} a description (representation) of $(q,α)$-stable distributions based on a $F_q$-transform was given. Here, in Part II, we present another description of these distributions. This approach generalizes results of \cite{UmarovTsallisSteinberg} (which corresponds to $α=2, Q\in [1,3)$) to the whole range of stability and nonextensivity parameters $α\in (0,2]$ and $Q \in [1,3),$ respectively. The present case $α=2$ recovers the $q$-Gaussian distributions. Similar to what is discussed in \cite{UmarovTsallisSteinberg}, a triplet $(q^{\ast},q,q_{\ast})$ arises for which the mapping $F_{q^{\ast}}: \mathcal{G}_{q} \to \mathcal{G}_{q_{\ast}}$ holds. Moreover, by unifying the two preceding descriptions, further possible extensions are discussed and some conjectures are formulated.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2008

Symmetric $(q,α)$-Stable Distributions. Part I: First Representation

The classic central limit theorem and $α$-stable distributions play a key role in probability theory, and also in Boltzmann-Gibbs (BG) statistical mechanics. They both concern the paradigmatic case of probabilistic independence of the random variables that are being summed. A generalization of the BG theory, usually referred to as nonextensive statistical mechanics and characterized by the index $q$ ($q=1$ recovers the BG theory), introduces special (long range) correlations between the random variables, and recovers independence for $q=1$. Recently, a $q$-central limit theorem consistent with nonextensive statistical mechanics was established \cite{UmarovTsallisSteinberg} which generalizes the classic Central Limit Theorem. In the present paper we introduce and study symmetric $(q,α)$-stable distributions. The case $q=1$ recovers the Lévy $α$-stable distributions.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2007

Quasiclassical Coarse Graining and Thermodynamic Entropy

Our everyday descriptions of the universe are highly coarse-grained, following only a tiny fraction of the variables necessary for a perfectly fine-grained description. Coarse graining in classical physics is made natural by our limited powers of observation and computation. But in the modern quantum mechanics of closed systems, some measure of coarse graining is inescapable because there are no non-trivial, probabilistic, fine-grained descriptions. This essay explores the consequences of that fact. Quantum theory allows for various coarse-grained descriptions some of which are mutually incompatible. For most purposes, however, we are interested in the small subset of ``quasiclassical descriptions'' defined by ranges of values of averages over small volumes of densities of conserved quantities such as energy and momentum and approximately conserved quantities such as baryon number. The near-conservation of these quasiclassical quantities results in approximate decoherence, predictability, and local equilibrium, leading to closed sets of equations of motion. In any description, information is sacrificed through the coarse graining that yields decoherence and gives rise to probabilities for histories. In quasiclassical descriptions, further information is sacrificed in exhibiting the emergent regularities summarized by classical equations of motion. An appropriate entropy measures the loss of information. For a ``quasiclassical realm'' this is connected with the usual thermodynamic entropy as obtained from statistical mechanics. It was low for the initial state of our universe and has been increasing since.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2005

Numerical indications of a q-generalised central limit theorem

We provide numerical indications of the $q$-generalised central limit theorem that has been conjectured (Tsallis 2004) in nonextensive statistical mechanics. We focus on $N$ binary random variables correlated in a {\it scale-invariant} way. The correlations are introduced by imposing the Leibnitz rule on a probability set based on the so-called $q$-product with $q \le 1$. We show that, in the large $N$ limit (and after appropriate centering, rescaling, and symmetrisation), the emerging distributions are $q_e$-Gaussians, i.e., $p(x) \propto [1-(1-q_e) β(N) x^2]^{1/(1-q_e)}$, with $q_e=2-\frac{1}{q}$, and with coefficients $β(N)$ approaching finite values $β(\infty)$. The particular case $q=q_e=1$ recovers the celebrated de Moivre-Laplace theorem.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗