https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202226301010
Quantum mechanics: how to use Everett theory practically
Ladhyx (CNRS UMR 7646), Ecole Polytechnique, 91128, Palaiseau, France
* e-mail: yves.pomeau@gmail.com
** e-mail: martine.le-berre@universite-paris-saclay.fr
Published online: 28 April 2022
Among theories of the physical world, quantum mechanics remains a topic of lively discussions on its so-called interpretation. For some it remains an open question to understand how deterministic equations of this theory, as established long ago, may combine with a fundamental uncertainty. We consider the process of spontaneous emission by an atom interacting with infinite number of degrees of freedom of the electromagnetic field. There is uncertainty in the evolution of the photo-emission process which was characterized as Markovian by using the equations of quantum mechanics when the decay of the atom is due to the coupling with the vacuum field. The Markovian property leads us naturally to describe spontaneous emission by using the classical Kolmogorov equation for the probability evolution of a parameter defining the state of the atom. We explain that Everett’s many-worlds interpretation weld together our description, and appears therefore as a consequence of the equations of quantum mechanics, that solves in this case the riddle of deterministic equations describing random events.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2022
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
