Introducing the Q-based interpretation of quantum theory

Abstract

This article outlines a novel interpretation of quantum theory: the Q-based interpretation. The core idea underlying this interpretation, recently suggested for quantum field theories by Drummond and Reid [2020], is to interpret the phase space function Q -- a transform of the better known Wigner function -- as a proper probability distribution, roughly analogous to the probability distribution \rho in classical statistical mechanics. Here I motivate the Q-based interpretation, investigate whether it is empirically adequate, and outline some of its key conceptual features. I argue that the Q-based interpretation is attractive in that it promises having no measurement problem, is conceptually parsimonious and has the potential to apply elegantly to relativistic and field-theoretic contexts.