Dork Scratchings

When learning Quantum Mechanics the rules can seem very abstract, and also very arbitrary.  The starting point is often taken to be the Schroedinger Equation, a deterministic equation describing the rate of change of an isolated system's state, and the Born Rule, which describes how that state gives rise to probabilities for each outcome when you interact with the system by making a measurement.  These two form the axioms of quantum mechanics from which everything else flows. These axioms seem incredibly arbitrary, which makes accepting them harder.  In this post I will show that you can, in fact, start with much more basic axioms and then derive both the Schroedinger Equation and the Born Rule from them.  What's more, we'll be able to show how collapse of the wavefunction  emerges  from these simpler axioms as a  subjective  phenomenon.  This then deals with the measurement problem, which is that collapse appears  to require us to arbit...

  October 2023, I took an extended break from work to travel around Nepal and India, with my wife Anna.  For me it was a once in a lifetime trip; for her it was a return to the a place she spent a significant part of her childhood - so it was a big thing.  However, having initially suggested the trip I was suddenly hit by a wave of guilt: I'd completely forgotten about my no-flying commitment.  I was in a dilemma - either break with my commitment or pull out of a trip that meant a lot to both of us. I hit upon a solution: Climeworks.  This is a Swiss company selling carbon credits using Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology.  The plants are based in Iceland so they have access to abundant zero-carbon geothermal energy to power the fans which suck in the air, and the process that mineralizes and buries the carbon.  But it was eye-wateringly expensive.  We needed to offset 5 tons of CO2 - the emissions of two passengers travelling from London and back...