How many bits specify a quantum state?
classification
🪐 quant-ph
cond-mat.stat-mech
keywords
statemanyprecisionquantumappearsarguesbitscomplex
read the original abstract
Quantum mechanics suggests that nature is discrete, with one state per phase space volume $\hbar^{3N}$. This appears to contradict the idea that the state of an N-particle system can have infinite precision and is described by a set of exponentially many complex numbers. Using a finite-temperature gas confined in a box as an example, this short paper argues that there are indeed limits to the precision of wave functions, and that this may help at understanding the quantum-to-classical transition.
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