Three consequences of decompositional consistency

Abstract

Decompositions of the world into systems have typically been regarded as arbitrary extra-theoretical assumptions in discussions of quantum measurement. One can instead regard decompositions as part of the theory, and ask what conditions they must satisfy for self-consistency. It is shown that self-consistent decompositions that specify a measurement context (i.e. von Neumann decompositions) must represent apparatus as containing internal decohering environments and as having known pointer components and ready states. Under these circumstances a von Neumann decomposition can function as a component of the ready state of the observer. Minimal no-collapse quantum mechanics supplemented by these consistency requirements on von Neumann decompositions avoids the measurement problem.