arXiv subjects

Sivapalan Chelvaniththilan

Publications and source records attributed to Sivapalan Chelvaniththilan.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

A Hamiltonian-like formalism that treats one spatial coordinate -- rather than time -- differently

The Hamiltonian and Lagrangian formalisms of Qunatum Field Theory (QFT) are equivalent. But while Lorentz invariance can be clearly seen in the Lagrangian formalism, it is not so explicit in the Hamiltonian one. This is because time is treated a little differently from the spatial coordinates in the Hamiltonian formalism. In this paper, I explore whether it is possible to devise another formalism that is just like the Hamiltonian one (with operators and state vectors) but which treats time on an equal footing with two of the spatial coordinates, while the third one is treated differently, the way time is in the usual Hamiltonian formalism.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

The arrow of time and a-priori probabilities

The second law of thermodynamics is asymmetric with respect to time as it says that the entropy of the universe must have been lower in the past and will be higher in the future. How this time-asymmetric law arises from the time-symmetric equations of motion has been the subject of extensive discussion in the scientific literature. The currently accepted resolution of the problem is to assume that the universe began in a low entropy state for an unknown reason. But the probability of this happening by chance is exceedingly small, if all microstates are assigned equal a-priori probabilities. In this paper, I explore another possible explanation, which is that our observations of the time-asymmetric increase of entropy could simply be the result of the way we assign a-priori probabilities differently to past and future events.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2020

Observations of wavefunction collapse and the retrospective application of the Born rule

In this paper I present a thought experiment that gives different results depending on whether or not the wavefunction collapses. Since the wavefunction does not obey the Schrodinger equation during the collapse, conservation laws are violated. This is the reason why the results are different. Quantities that are conserved if the wavefunction does not collapse might change if it does. I also show that using the Born Rule to derive probabilities of states before a measurement given the state after it (rather than the other way round as it is usually used) leads to the conclusion that the memories that an observer has about making measurements of quantum systems have a significant probability of being false memories.

quant-ph↗