Source Field Effects and Wave Function Collapse

Abstract

Detection of a material particle is accompanied by emission of bremsstrahlung. Thus the dynamics of the energy loss of the particle is determined by radiation reaction force. The description of radiation reaction is a difficult problem still being subject of ongoing debates. There are problems of runaway solutions, preacceleration already in classical description of radiation reaction. Additional complications in quantum mechanical description arise because of the infinite source field energy term in hamiltonian for a point charge. There is still no general consensus on an appropriate quantum mechanical description. Neither the achievements of the radiation theory on the subject nor the problems associated with it are sufficiently taken into account in context with measurement problem. Radiation reaction doesn't effect free particle wave packets, but it favors stationary states of the `wave function of the measured particle" in presence of a potential gradient. We suggest therefore that radiation reaction may play a significant role in the dynamics of the wave function collapse. keywords: wave function collapse,interpretation,randomness, Jaynes Cummings dynamics, spontaneous emission, source field effects, radiation reaction, quantum measurement,decoherence