Protective Measurement and the Interpretation of the Wave Function

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:10120055,
            doi = {10.48660/10120055},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/10120055},
            author = {},
            keywords = {Quantum Foundations},
            language = {en},
            title = {Protective Measurement and the Interpretation of the Wave Function},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2010},
            month = {dec},
            note = {PIRSA:10120055 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }
          

Abstract

Shan Gao We investigate the validity of the field explanation of the wave function by analyzing the mass and charge density distributions of a quantum system. According to protective measurement, a charged quantum system has effective mass and charge density distributed in space, proportional to the square of the absolute value of its wave function. If the wave function is a description of a physical field, then the mass and charge density will be distributed in space simultaneously for a charged quantum system, and thus there will exist a remarkable electrostatic self-interaction of its wave function, though the gravitational self-interaction is too weak to be detected presently. This not only violates the superposition principle of quantum mechanics but also contradicts experimental observations.