Particle Tracks, Events and Quantum Theory

Abstract

The law of track formation in cloud chambers is derived from the Liouville equation with a simple Lindblad's type generator that describes coupling between a quantum particle and a classical, continuous, medium of two--state detectors. Piecewise deterministic random process (PDP) corresponding to the Liouville equation is derived. The process consists of pairs (classical event,quantum jump), interspersed with random periods of continuous (in general, non--linear) Schroedinger's--type evolution. The classical events are flips of the detectors -- they account for tracks. Quantum jumps are shown, in the simplest, homogeneous case, to be identical to those in the early spontaneous localization model of Ghirardi, Rimini and Weber (GRW). The methods and results of the present paper allow for an elementary derivation and numerical simulation of particle track formation and provide an additional perspective on GRW's proposal