Arkady Bolotin
Arkady Bolotin | |
|---|---|
| Known for | Computational approach to the quantum measurement problem |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics, foundations of quantum mechanics |
| Institutions | Ben-Gurion University of the Negev |
Arkady Bolotin is a researcher at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev who works on the foundations of quantum mechanics. He is listed in The Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists.
Work
Bolotin argues that the quantum measurement problem may have a computational, rather than purely physical, character. In "Limits of reductionism and the measurement problem" (arXiv:1301.0002; Physics Essays 26, 350–357, 2013), he asks whether the difficulty of solving the Schrödinger equation for an arbitrarily large system reflects an intrinsic property of nature, and whether that difficulty could itself resolve the measurement problem.
In related papers, including "Computational Solution to Quantum Foundational Problems" and "The paradox of classical reasoning," he contends that requiring quantum linearity to apply at all physical scales would imply the existence of a generic algorithm able to solve the Schrödinger equation for any system in reasonable time, and he treats the apparent impossibility of such an algorithm as an argument against a strictly reductionist description of macroscopic systems. These positions run counter to the mainstream view that quantum mechanics applies universally in principle.