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# Doping evolution of the phonon density of states and electron-lattice interaction in Nd2-xCexCuO4+δ

## Abstract

We use inelastic neutron scattering to study the evolution of the generalized phonon density of states (GDOS) of the $`n`$-type high-$`T_c`$ superconductor Nd2-xCexCuO4+δ (NCCO), from the half-filled Mott-insulator ($`x=0`$) to the $`T_c=24`$ K superconductor ($`x=0.15`$). Upon doping the CuO2 planes in Nd2CuO4+δ (NCO) with electrons by Ce substitution, the most significant change in the GDOS is the softening of the highest phonon branches associated with the Cu-O bond stretching and out-of-plane oxygen vibration modes. However, the softening occurs within the first few percent of Ce-doping and is not related to the electron doping induced nonsuperconducting-superconducting transition (NST) at $`x0.12`$. These results suggest that the electron-lattice coupling in the $`n`$-type high-$`T_c`$ superconductors is different from that in the $`p`$-type materials.

One of the most remarkable properties of high-transition-temperature (high-$`T_c`$) copper-oxide (cuprate) superconductors is their close proximity to an antiferromagnetic (AF) phase. The parent compounds of the high-$`T_c`$ cuprates are AF insulators characterized by a simple doubling of the crystallographic unit cell in the CuO2 planes kastner . When holes bednorz  or electrons tokura  are doped into these planes, the long-range AF-ordered phase is destroyed, and the copper-oxide materials become metallic and superconducting with persistent short-range AF spin correlations (fluctuations). Much effort over the past decade has focused on understanding the nature of the interplay between magnetism and superconductivity kastner , mainly because spin fluctuations may contribute a major part of the superconducting condensation energy demler ; dai . On the other hand, the role of phonons in the microscopic mechanism of superconductivity is still largely unknown even though phonons in cuprates also display a variety of unusual properties pintschovius ; mcqueeney1 ; mcqueeney2 ; pintschovius1 ; mook . The key question is whether magnetism and electron-electron correlations alone are sufficient to induce electron pairing that leads to superconductivity in high-$`T_c`$ cuprates, or electron-lattice coupling also plays an important role.

From the analysis of high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) data in conjunction with those from neutron, optics and local structural probes, Shen and co-workers shen  suggest that phonons must also play an essential role in electron pairing for high-$`T_c`$ cuprates. The key evidence for electron-lattice coupling, they argue lanzara , is that the kink (or the change of slope) seen in the electronic dispersion of the hole-doped ($`p`$-type) Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 (Bi2212), Bi2Sr2CuO6 (Bi2201), and La2-xSrxCuO4 (LSCO) from the ARPES data valla ; bogdanov ; kaminski ; johnson  occurs at an energy ($``$70 meV) very close to the phonon anomalies observed by inelastic neutron scattering mcqueeney1 ; mcqueeney2 ; pintschovius1 . These phonon anomalies include the break in the dispersion of the oxygen half-breathing mode in La1.85Sr0.15CuO4 mcqueeney1  and the abrupt development of new oxygen lattice vibrations near the doping-induced metal-insulator transition (MIT) in the generalized phonon density of states (GDOS) of LSCO mcqueeney2 ; note . Since the change of slope in the electronic dispersion indicates a dramatic drop in the “quasiparticle” scattering rate shen , their observation in hole-doped cuprate superconductors valla ; bogdanov ; kaminski ; johnson  suggests a strong coupling between the quasiparticles and a sharp collective spin or lattice mode. Although the neutron magnetic resonance dai  could be the collective spin mode coupled to the quasiparticles johnson ; norman , Shen et al. argue that electron-lattice interaction is ultimately responsible for the quasiparticle velocity change and thus is crucial to the high-$`T_c`$ superconductivity shen ; lanzara . Furthermore, since the dispersion of the electron-doped superconducting Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4+δ does not have such a kink, the authors shen  predict that the $`n`$-type materials have much weaker electron-lattice coupling and thus lower $`T_c`$’s.

If this hypothesis were correct, one would expect the exotic lattice dynamics seen in the $`p`$-type LSCO mcqueeney1 ; mcqueeney2 ; pintschovius1  to be reduced in the $`n`$-type Nd2-xCexCuO4+δ (NCCO) shen . For LSCO, the abrupt development of the new oxygen lattice vibrations across the doping induced nonsuperconducting-superconducting transition (NST) was interpreted as evidence for strong electron-lattice coupling in the superconducting cuprates that is not present in nonsuperconducting materials mcqueeney2 ; note . Specifically, the new lattice mode at $``$70 meV in the GDOS is believed to be at least partly comprised of the anomalous Cu-O bond-stretching (oxygen half-breathing) mode mcqueeney2 . Although the GDOS for NCCO with $`x=0,0.15`$ were studied by Lynn and co-workers lynn ; sumarlin , no systematic doping dependent measurements are available. If the quasiparticle velocity drop seen in the ARPES data of $`p`$-type cuprates shen  is related to the anomalous lattice vibrational modes mcqueeney2 , the absence of such a drop in the electron-doped superconducting NCCO with $`x=0.15`$ would suggest a weak (or no) phonon anomaly for NCCO.

In this paper, we present inelastic neutron scattering measurements of the GDOS in NCCO spanning electron doping concentrations from the half-filled Mott-insulator (Nd2CuO4+δ or NCO) to optimally doped NCCO superconductor ($`x0.15`$). Upon doping electrons to the CuO2 planes by Ce substitution, the most significant change in the GDOS is the anomalous softening of the $`70`$ meV phonon branches associated with the oxygen half-breathing and out-of-plane vibrational modes. However, in contrast to LSCO mcqueeney2 , the anomaly only occurs within the first few percent of Ce-doping and there is no evidence for any new lattice modes in the GDOS across the electron doping induced NST at $`x0.12`$. Our results indicate that doping-induced phonon anomalies in hole-doped cuprates are different from these in electron-doped materials, thus suggesting that electron-lattice coupling is unrelated to the superconductivity of NCCO.

Our experiments were performed on the MARI chopper spectrometer at ISIS facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK. The detectors on MARI cover a wide scattering angle from 3 to 135. For the experiments, we used a Fermi chopper to choose an incident beam energy of 110 meV. The energy resolution is between 1-2% of the incident energy. The powder samples were mounted inside the aluminum sample can on the cold head of a helium closed-cycle refrigerator and all measurements were performed at $`T=30`$ K. The incident neutron beam size is $`5\times 5`$ cm2 and the unexposed area of the sample was covered by Cd sheets. To normalize the scattering from NCCO on an absolute scale, we used the elastic incoherent scattering from a vanadium standard. In addition to measurements at MARI, we have also collected data on the BT-4 filter analyzer spectrometer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology research reactor. To within the error of the measurements, the results of these two experiments are identical.

We prepared the ceramic samples of NCCO with Ce-concentrations of $`x=0.00`$, 0.04, 0.08, 0.09, 0.10, 0.11, 0.12, 0.13, 0.15 by the conventional solid state reaction tokura . The as-grown samples have excess oxygen ($`\delta >0`$) and are nonsuperconducting. Various annealing procedures have been developed to remove the excess oxygen needed to produce superconductivity. However, the properties of the samples and the resulting electronic phase diagrams are different depending on the details of the annealing procedure used. In the original work of Tagaki et al. tokura , it was found that samples treated in flowing Ar at temperatures in excess of 1100 C followed by heating in air at 500 C produced metallic samples with a sharp superconducting transition. However, it was also found that this procedure resulted in some decomposition of the sample as well as probable loss of Cu from the surfaces of the polycrystalline grains tokura . This procedure also results in the electronic phase diagram showing an abrupt NST around $`x=0.14`$ with only half of the superconducting “dome” tokura , different from hole-doped LSCO kastner . We have followed the annealing procedure developed by Maple’s group maple , where the samples are treated in flowing Ar at temperature of about 900 C. The resulting phase diagram shows the NST around $`x=0.12`$ with the almost complete superconducting dome maple  as compared to the half-dome from tokura . To characterize the materials, bulk magnetization and resistivity measurements were performed for all the samples. Figure 1 shows the doping dependence of the AC susceptibility for $`x=0.1`$, 0.11, 0.13, and 0.15. Superconductivity is clearly seen for NCCO with $`x0.13`$, thus confirming that the NST in NCCO occurs around $`x0.12`$ maple .

In an unpolarized neutron experiment, the major difficulty in obtaining the reliable GDOS is to separate phonons from magnetic scattering. For NCCO, the largest magnetic signal originates from single-ion crystalline electric field (CEF) excitations of the Nd ions lynn ; sumarlin . The CEF excitations of NCCO with $`x=0`$, and 0.15 have been studied in great detail and their level scheme has peaks around $`\mathrm{}\omega `$ 12–16, $`20.5`$, $`27`$, and $`93.3`$ meV at low temperatures boothroyd . We performed careful wave vector ($`Q`$) dependent analysis of the excitation intensities at $`\mathrm{}\omega =`$ 20.5, 27, and 93.3 meV for 2 Å$`{}_{}{}^{1}<Q<10`$ Å-1. The outcome confirms the earlier results that these three peaks are magnetic in origin and the phonon cutoff energy of NCCO is around $`83`$ meV sumarlin . We also checked the strength of the multiple scattering and multi-phonon scattering using the Monte Carlo simulation program MSCAT, but found such multi-phonon scattering contributes negligibly to the total scattering intensity in the energy region of interest ($`\mathrm{}\omega 50`$ meV). To reduce the magnetic scattering contribution to the GDOS, we replaced the intensities of the 20.5 and 27 meV peaks with scattering from the highest measured wave vectors (9 Å$`{}_{}{}^{1}<Q<11`$ Å-1). Although this procedure may not eliminate all the magnetic intensity, there are no magnetic contributions to the GDOS for 50 meV$`\mathrm{}\omega 80`$ meV.

After subtraction of the empty aluminum sample can, multiple and multi-phonon scattering, single-phonon GDOS with $`Q`$ values integrated from 3 to 11 Å-1 were calculated by multiplying $`\omega /[n(\omega )+1]`$, where $`n(\omega )`$ is the Bose population factor. The total area of each GDOS was then normalized to 1 over the energy range from 15 to 80 meV. Figure 2 shows the GDOS for NCCO with $`x=0.0`$, 0.04, 0.08, 0.10, 0.11, 0.12, 0.13, and 0.15. Consistent with previous measurements on NCCO for $`x=0.0`$ and 0.15 lynn ; sumarlin , the spectra contain clear peaks at $``$36, 42, 48, and 65-70 meV. On moving from an insulator to a metal with increasing Ce-concentration, the largest observed effect is the softening and sharpening of the broad $``$70 meV phonon-band in the undoped NCO.

We systematically fit the 70 meV phonon band with two Gaussians on a sloping background for various $`x`$. The solid lines in Fig. 2 show the outcome of the fits. Although the precise functional form of the GDOS for the 70 meV phonon band is not known, the systematic Gaussian fits allow a quantitative determination for the magnitude of the phonon softening. For the undoped NCO, the 70 meV mode shows a flattish top and can be best fitted by two Gaussians centered at 67 and 71 meV, respectively. On increasing the Ce-concentration to $`x=0.04`$, the 71 meV mode softens to 67 meV (6% softening) and shows less of a flattish top. Furthermore, the GDOS gains intensity at 65 meV at the expense of the 71 meV peak. At $`x=0.08`$, the GDOS peaks more sharply at 65 meV. On further increasing $`x`$ and across the NST at $`x=0.12`$, the GDOS show essentially no change from that for $`x=0.08`$ to within the error of the measurements. Figure 3 shows the comparison plots of the GDOS at various $`x`$. For NCCO with $`0.0x0.08`$, the 70 meV phonon band shows significant softening while all other modes display no visible change with increasing $`x`$ (Figs. 3a and 3b). The GDOS for $`x`$ from 0.08 to 0.15 (Figs. 3c and 3d) overlap completely in the probed energy range ($`15\mathrm{}\omega 80`$ meV) and show no changes across the NST.

To understand the atomic displacement patterns of the phonon modes contributing to the 70 meV band in NCO, we consider its experimentally determined phonon dispersion curves pintschovius2 . For NCO, the highest energy phonon bands are around 70 meV pintschovius2 . These include the highest energy in-plane Cu-O bond-stretching mode with $`\mathrm{\Delta }_1`$-symmetry at $`Q=(0.5,0,0)`$ (the oxygen half-breathing mode) along the $`[\zeta ,0,0]`$ direction, the out-of-plane ($`c`$-axis polarized) oxygen breathing mode with $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_1`$-symmetry along $`[0,0,\zeta ]`$, and the in-plane oxygen breathing mode with $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_1`$-symmetry at $`Q=(0.5,0.5,0)`$ along $`[\zeta ,\zeta ,0]`$. The inset of Fig. 2 shows the oxygen displacement patterns for these three modes. Since these three modes are at $``$70 meV in the dispersion curves pintschovius2 , the 70 meV peak in the GDOS of NCO must consist, at least partially, of these modes. As a consequence, the electron-doping induced softening in NCCO must also occur in these modes.

In a very recent inelastic X-ray scattering study of longitudinal optical phonons in NCCO with $`x=0.14`$, d’Astuto et al. discovered anomalous phonon softening in the two highest longitudinal branches associated with the Cu-O bond-stretching and out-of-plane oxygen vibrations dastuto . By comparing their data on NCCO with undoped NCO, the authors concluded that strong electron-phonon coupling is also present in electron-doped NCCO. From their work dastuto , it becomes clear that the significant softening of the 70 meV phonon band with $`x`$ in Figs. 2 and 3 is mostly due to the softening of the oxygen half-breathing and out-of-plane vibrational modes. For hole-doped LSCO, the oxygen half-breathing modes display anomalous behavior mcqueeney1 ; pintschovius1  and show up as new lattice modes in the superconducting side of the phase diagram across the NST mcqueeney2 . While the oxygen half-breathing modes also exhibit anomalous behavior dastuto  and soften with increasing electron-doping, our results indicate that the softening occurs within the first few percent of Ce-doping in the nonsuperconducting regime and therefore is not associated with the electron doping induced NST in NCCO.

For $`p`$-type cuprates, previous investigations have established a clear correlation between superconducting properties of the materials and special features of the phonon spectrum. While such correlation is seen as anomalous phonon modes across the NST in LSCO mcqueeney2 , systematic studies of the GDOS in YBa2Cu3O6+x show that the phonon cut-off energy softens across the NST and is closely related to $`T_c`$ (see Fig. 41 of pintschovius ). In general, these phonon anomalies are related to the dielectric screening properties of metals and thus suggest a strong electron-lattice coupling in the superconductivity of the $`p`$-type materials. Although phonon softening is also observed in the $`n`$-type NCCO, our data indicate that these anomalies occur in the nonsuperconducting regime and are not directly related to the NST. Therefore, it becomes clear that the electron-lattice coupling in the electron-doped NCCO is different from that in the hole-doped materials.

It is interesting to compare our results with that of the ARPES on NCCO. In principle, the strong electron-lattice coupling and large softening of the optical oxygen vibrational modes in NCCO with $`x=0.04`$ should reveal themselves as distinctive features in the ARPES spectra shen . If the kink in the electronic band dispersion in the hole-doped materials is due to the anomalous softening of the 70 meV oxygen half-breathing mode shen , its absence in electron-doped NCCO would suggest no softening of such oxygen modes in NCCO. Clearly, this is inconsistent with the results of dastuto  and the present work. On the other hand, if the kink in the ARPES spectra is not related to the softening of the 70 meV modes but to the changes of such modes across the hole- (electron-) induced NST, our data would be consistent with a weak electron-lattice coupling in NCCO. An unambiguous test of this idea will require comparison of the neutron data with the doping dependence of the electronic structure of NCCO. Although systematic ARPES investigations have been carried out very recently on NCCO armitage , the evolution of the electronic dispersions across the MIT or NST is unavailable and therefore cannot be compared yet with the neutron results.

We thank Z.-X. Shen and Y. Ando for helpful discussions. This work was supported by NSF DMR-0139882 and by DOE under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC.


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# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

Does Schrödinger’s wave function describe physical reality (“it” in John Wheeler’s terminology ) or some kind of information (“bit”)? The answer to this question must crucially depend on the definition of these terms. Is it therefore merely a matter of words? Not quite – I feel. Inappropriate words may be misleading, or they may even be misused in the place of lacking explanations, while reasonably chosen terms are helpful.

A bit is usually understood as the binary unit of information, which can be physically realized in (classical) computers, but also by neuronal states of having fired or not. This traditional physical (in particular, thermodynamical) realization of information (“bit from it”) has proved essential in order to avoid paradoxes otherwise arising from situations related to Maxwell’s demon. On the other hand, the concept of a bit has a typical quantum aspect: the very word quantum refers to discreteness, while, paradoxically, the quantum bit is represented by a continuum (the unit sphere in a two-dimensional Hilbert space) – more similar to an analog computer. If this quantum state describes “mere information”, how can there be real quantum computers that are based on such superpositions of classical bits?

The problematic choice of words characterizing the nature of the wave function (or “quantum state”, in general) seems to reflect the common uneasiness of physicists, including the founders of quantum theory, about its fundamental meaning. However, it may also express a certain prejudice. So let me first recall some historical developments, most of which are described in Max Jammer’s informative books , where you will also find the relevant “classic” references that I have here omitted.

## 2 Historical Remarks about the Wave Function

When Schrödinger first invented the wave function, he was convinced that it describes real electrons, even though the construction of his wave equation from Hamiltonian mechanics readily led to wave mechanics on configuration space. As far as he applied his theory to single electron states, this had no immediate consequences. Therefore, he tried to explain the apparently observed “corpuscles” in terms of wave packets in space (such as coherent oscillator states). This attempt failed, but I will apply it to the configuration space of bounded systems in Sect. 4. Since Schrödinger firmly believed that reality must be described in space and time, he proposed nonlinear corrections to his single-electron wave equation, thus temporarily abandoning his own many-particle wave function.

When Born later proposed his probability interpretation, he initially postulated probabilities for spontaneous transitions of a wave function into a new one, since at this time he “was inclined to regard it \[wave mechanics\] as the most profound formalism of the quantum laws” (as he later explained). These new wave functions were either assumed to be plane waves (in a scattering process), or bound states (for spontaneous transitions within atoms). In both cases the final (and mostly also the initial) states were stationary eigenstates of certain subsystem Hamiltonians, which thus replaced Bohr’s semi-quantized electron orbits of the hydrogen atom.222 The idea of probabilistically changing (collapsing) wave functions was generalized and formalized as applying to measurements by von Neumann in what Wigner later called the “orthodox interpretation” of quantum mechanics. (By this term he did not mean the Copenhagen interpretation.) Its historical roots may explain why von Neumann regarded quantum jumps as the first kind of dynamics, while calling the Schrödinger equation a second “Eingriff” (intervention). Born “associated” plane waves with particle momenta according to de Broglie’s mysterious proposal, although this had already been incorporated into wave mechanics in the form of differential momentum operators. Only after Heisenberg had formulated his uncertainty relations did Pauli introduce the general interpretation of the wave function as a “probability amplitude” for particle positions or momenta (or functions thereof) – cf. . It thus seemed to resemble a statistical distribution representing incomplete knowledge (although not about position and momentum). This would allow the entanglement contained in a many-particle wave function to be understood as statistical correlations, and the reduction of the wave function as a “normal increase of information”.

However, Pauli concluded (correctly, I think, although this has also been debated) that the potentially observed classical properties (particle position or momentum) cannot be merely unknown. Instead, he later insisted  that “the appearance of a definite position of an electron during an observation is a creation outside the laws of nature” (my translation and italics). Heisenberg had even claimed that “the particle trajectory is created by our act of observing it”. In accordance with Born’s original ideas (and also with von Neumann’s orthodox interpretation), such spontaneous “events” are thus understood dynamically (in contrast to a mere increase of information), while the process of observation or measurement is not further dynamically analyzed.

According to Heisenberg and the early Niels Bohr, these individual events occurred in the atoms, but this assumption had soon to be abandoned because of the existence of larger quantum systems. Bohr later placed them into the irreversible detection process. Others (such as London and Bauer  or Wigner ) suggested that the ultimate events occur in the observer, or that the “Heisenberg cut”, where the probability interpretation is applied in the observational chain between observer and observed, is quite arbitrary. Ulfbeck and Aage Bohr  recently wrote that “the click in the counter occurs out of the blue, and without an event in the source itself as a precursor to the click”. Note that there would then be no particle or other real object any more that dynamically connects the source with the counter! These authors add that simultaneously with the occurrence of the click the wave function “loses its meaning”. This is indeed the way the wave function is often used – though not whenever the “particle” is measured repeatedly (such as when giving rise to a track in a bubble chamber). Even if it is absorbed when being measured for the first time, the state thereafter is described by a state vector that represents the corresponding vacuum (which is evidently an individually meaningful quantum state).

The picture that spontaneous events are real, while the wave function merely describes their deterministically evolving probabilities (as Born formulated it) became general quantum folklore. It could represent an objective description if these events were consistently described by a fundamental stochastic process “in nature” – for example in terms of stochastic electron trajectories. A physical state at time $`t_0`$ would then incompletely determine that at another time $`t_1`$, say. The former could be said to contain “incomplete information” about the latter in an objective dynamical sense (in contrast to Heisenberg’s concept of actual “human knowledge”, or information that is processed in a computer). This indeterminism would be described by the spreading of a probability distribution, representing the decay of “objective information”, contained in an initial state, about the later state. Unfortunately, this dynamical interpretation fails. For example, it would be in conflict with Wheeler’s delayed choice experiments . Therefore, there have been attempts to reduce the concept of trajectories to that of “consistent histories” (partially defined trajectories) . Roughly, these histories consist of successions of discrete stochastic events that occur in situations being equivalent to the aforementioned “counters”. However, what circumstances let a physical system qualify as a counter in this sense?

Can something that affects real events, or that keeps solid bodies from collapsing, itself be unreal? In principle, this is indeed a matter of definition. For example, electromagnetic fields were originally regarded as abstract auxiliary concepts, merely useful to calculate forces between the (“really existing”) charged elements of matter. Bohm’s theory demonstrates that electron trajectories can be consistently assumed to exist, and even to be deterministic under the guidance of a global wave function. Their unpredictability would be due to unknown (and unknowable) initial conditions. John Bell  argued that the assumed global wave function would then have to be regarded as real, too: it “kicks” the electron (while it is not being kicked back in this theory). Evidently this wave function cannot merely represent a statistical ensemble, although it dynamically determines an ensemble of potential events (of which but one is supposed to become real in each case – note the presumed direction of time!).

In particular, any entanglement of the wave function is transformed into statistical correlations whenever (local) events occur without being observed. Even when Schrödinger  later called entanglement the greatest mystery of quantum theory, he used the insufficient phrase “probability relations in separated systems” in the title to his important paper. In the same year, Einstein, Podolski and Rosen concluded, also by using entangled states, that quantum theory must be incomplete. The importance of entanglement for the (real!) binding energy of the Helium atom was well known by then, total angular momentum eigenstates were known to require superpositions of products of subsystem states, while von Neumann, in his book, had discussed the specific entanglement that arises from quantum measurements. Nonetheless, none of these great physicists was ready to dismiss the condition that reality must be local (that is, defined in space and time). It is this requirement that led Niels Bohr to abandon microscopic reality completely (while he preserved this concept for the classical realm of events).

## 3 The Reality of Superpositions

However, there seems to be more to the wave function than its statistical and dynamical aspects. Dirac’s general kinematical concept of “quantum states” (described by his ket vectors in Hilbert space) is based on the superposition principle. It requires, for example, that the superposition of spin-up and spin-down defines a new individual physical state, and does not just lead to interference fringes in the statistics of certain events. For every such spin superposition of a neutron, say, there exists a certain orientation of a Stern-Gerlach device, such that the path of the neutron can be predicted with certainty (to use an argument from Einstein, Podolski and Rosen). This spinor would not be correctly described as a vector with two unknown components. Other spin components have to be created (outside the laws of nature according to Pauli) during measurements with another orientation of the Stern-Gerlach magnet.

Superpositions of a neutron and a proton in the isotopic spin formalism are formally analogous to spin, although the SU(2) symmetry is dynamically broken in this case. As these superpositions do not occur in nature as free nucleons (they may form quasi-particles within nuclei), the validity of the superposition principle has been restricted by postulating a “charge superselection rule”. We can now explain the non-occurrence of these and many other conceivable but never observed superpositions by means of envirenmental decoherence, while neutral particles, such as K mesons and their antiparticles, or various kinds of neutrinos, can be superposed to form new bosons or fermions, respectively, with novel individual and observable properties.

Two-state superpositions in space can be formed from partial waves which escape from two slits of a screen. Since these partial waves can hardly be exactly re-focussed on to the same point, we have to rely on statistical interference experiments (using the probability interpretation) to demonstrate the existence of this superposition of single-particle wave functions. (The outcome of the required series of events, such as sets of spots on a photographic plate, have quantum mechanically to be described by tensor products of local states describing such spots – not by ensembles.) General one-particle wave functions can themselves be understood as superpositions of all possible “particle” positions (space points). They define “real” physical properties, such as energy, momentum, or angular momentum, only as a nonlocal whole.

Superpositions of different particle numbers form another important application of this basic principle, important for characterizing “field” states. If free fields are treated as continua of coupled oscillators, boson numbers appear as the corresponding equidistant excitation modes. Their coherent superpositions (which first appeared in Schrödinger’s attempt to describe corpuscles as wave packets) may represent quasi-classical fields. Conversely, quantum superpositions of classical fields define field functionals, that is, wave functions over a configurations space of classical field amplitudes.

These field functionals (generalized wave functions) were used by Dyson  to derive path integrals and Feynman diagrams for perturbation theory of QED. All particle lines in these diagrams are no more than an intuitive short hand notation for plane waves appearing in the integrals that are actually used. The misinterpretation of the wave function as a probability distribution for classical configurations (from which a subensemble can be “picked out” by an increase of information) is often carried over to the path integral. In particular, quantum cosmologists are using the uncertainty relations to justify an ensemble of initial states (an initial indeterminacy) for presumed trajectories of the universe. Everett’s relative state interpretation (based on the assumption of a universal wave function) is then easily misunderstood as a many-classical-worlds interpretation. However, Heisenberg’s uncertainty relations are defined with respect to classical variables. They hold for given quantum states, and do not require the latters’ (initial, in this case) indeterminacy as well. Ensembles of quantum states would again have to be created from an initial superposition (outside the laws or by means of new laws), while apparent ensembles of cosmic fluctuations may form by means of decoherence .

Superpositions of different states that are generated from one asymmetric state by applying a symmetry group (rotations, for example) are particularly useful. They define irreducible representations (eigenstates of the corresponding Casimir operators) as new individual physical states, which give rise to various kinds of families of states or (real) “particles”.

During the recent decades, more and more superpositions have been confirmed to exist by clever experimentalists. We have learned about SQUIDs, mesoscopic Schrödinger cats, Bose condensates, and even superpositions of a macroscopic current running in opposite directions (very different from two currents canceling each other). Microscopic elements of quantum computers (which simultaneously perform different calculations in one superposition) have been successfully designed. All these superpositions may be (or must be) observed as individual physical states. Hence, their components “exist” simultaneously. As long as no unpredictable events have occurred, they do not form ensembles of possible states which would represent incomplete information about the true state.

A typical example for the appearance of probabilistic quantum events is the decay of an unstable state by means of tunneling through a potential barrier. The decay products (which in quantum cosmology may even be whole universes) are here assumed to enter existence, or to leave the potential well, at a certain though unpredictable time. That this description is not generally applicable has been demonstrated by experiments in cavities , where different decay times may interfere with one another. Many narrow wave packets, approximately representing definite decay times, would indeed have to be added coherently in order to form unitarily evolving wave functions which may decay exponentially (according to a complex energy) in a large but restricted spacetime region. This dynamical description by means of the Schrödinger equation requires furthermore that exponential tails of an exact energy eigenstate need time to form. So it excludes superluminal effects that would result (though with very small probability) if exact eigenstates were created in discontinuous quantum jumps .

The conventional quantization rules, which are applied in situations where a corresponding classical theory is known or postulated, define the wave function $`\psi (q)`$ as a continuum of coefficients in superpositions $`\psi (q)|q`$ of all classical configurations $`q`$.333 Permutation symmetries and quantum statistics demonstrate that the correct classical states to be quantized are always spatial fields – not the apparent particles which appear as a consequence of decoherence. This has recently been nicely illustrated by various experiments with Bose condensates. The equidistant energy levels of free field modes (oscillators) mimic particle numbers, and – if robust under decoherence – give rise to the non-relativistic approximation by means of “$`N`$-particle wave functions”. This conclusion eliminates any need for a “second quantization”, while particle indices become redundant, similar to gauge variables. There are no particles even before quantization (while a fundamental unified theory may not be based on any classical theory at all)! With the exception of single-particle states, this prodedure leads directly to the infamous nonlocal states. Their nonlocality is very different from a (classical) extension in space, which would quantum mechanically be described by a product of local states. Only superpositions of such products of subsystem states may be nonlocal in the quantum mechanical sense. In order to prevent reality from being nonlocal, superpositions were therefore usually regarded as states of information – in contrast to the conclusion arrived at above. Even hypothetical “baby” or “bubble universes” are defined to be somewhere else in space – in contrast to the “many worlds” of quantum theory. However, Bell’s inequality – and even more directly so its generalizations by Greenberger, Horne and Zeilinger  or Hardy  – have allowed experimentalists to demonstrate by operational means that reality is nonlocal. So why not simply accept the reality of the wave function?

As mentioned above, there are two, apparently unrelated, aspects which seem to support an interpretation of the wave function as a state of “information”: the classical configuration space, which replaces normal space as the “stage of dynamics” (and thus leads to quantum nonlocality), and the probability interpretation. Therefore, this picture and terminology appear quite appropriate for practical purposes. I am using it myself – although preferentially in quotation marks whenever questions of interpretation are discussed.

While the general superposition principle, from which nonlocality is derived, requires nonlocal states (that is, a kinematical nonlocality), most physicists seem to regard as conceivable only a dynamical nonlocality (such as Einstein’s spooky action at a distance). The latter would even have to include superluminal actions. In contrast, nonlocal entanglement must already “exist” before any crucially related local but spatially separated events occur. For example, in proposed so-called quantum teleportation experiments, a nonlocal state has to be carefully prepared initially – so nothing has to be ported any more. After this preparation, the relevant state “exists but is not there” . Or in similar words: the physical state is ou topos (at no place), although it is not utopic according to quantum theory. If nonlocality is thus readily described by the formalism (just taken seriously), how about the probability interpretation?

## 4 The Rôle of Decoherence

Most nonlocal superpositions discussed in the literature describe controllable (or usable) entanglement. This is the reason why they are being investigated. In an operationalist approach, this usable part is often exclusively defined as entanglement, while uncontrollable entanglement is regarded as “distortion” or “noise”. However, if the Schrödinger equation is assumed to be universally valid, the wave function must contain far more entanglement (or “quantum correlations”) than can ever be used . In contrast to entanglement, uncontrollable noise, such as phases fluctuating in time, would not destroy (or rather, dislocalize) an individual superposition. It may at most wash out an interference pattern in the statistics of many events (cf. ). Therefore, entanglement, which leads to decoherence in bounded systems even for an individual global quantum state, has to be strictly distinguished from phase averaging either in ensembles of events, or resulting from a fluctuating Hamiltonian (“dephasing”).

John von Neumann discussed the entanglement that arises when a quantum system is measured by an appropriate device. It leads to the consequence that the relative phases which characterize a superposition are now neither in the object nor in the apparatus, but only in their (shared) total state. These phases cannot affect measurements performed at one or the other of these two subsystems any more. The latter are then conveniently described by their reduced density matrices, which can be formally represented by ensembles of subsystem wave functions with certain formal probabilities. If the interaction dynamics between system and apparatus is (according to von Neumann) reasonably chosen, the resulting density matrix of the apparatus by itself can be represented by an ensemble of slightly overlapping wave packets which describe different pointer positions with precisely Born’s probabilities. Does it therefore explain the required ensemble of measurement outcomes? That is, have the quantum jumps into these new wave functions (the unpredictable events) already occurred according to von Neumann’s unitary interaction?

Clearly not. Von Neumann’s model interaction, which leads to this entanglement, can in principle be reversed in order to reproduce a local superposition that depends on the initial phase relation. For a microscopic pointer variable this can be experimentally confirmed. For this reason, d’Espagnat  distinguished conceptually between proper mixtures (which describe ensembles) and improper mixtures (which are defined to describe entanglement with an external system). This difference is of utmost importance when the problem of measurement is being discussed. The density matrix by itself is a formal tool that is sufficient for all practical purposes which presume the probability interpretation and neglect the possibility of local phase revivals (recoherence). Measurements by microscopic pointers can be regarded as “virtual measurements” (leading to “virtual decoherence”) – in the sense of virtual particle emission or virtual excitation. Similarly, scattering “events” cannot be treated probabilistically as far as phase relations, described by the scattering matrix, remain relevant or usable. Nothing can be assumed to have irreversibly happened in virtual measurements (as it would be required for real events).

The concept of a reduced density matrix obtains its justification from the fact that all potential measurements are local, that is, described by local interactions with a local apparatus. Classically, dynamical locality means that an object can directly affect the state of another one only if it is at the same place. However, we have seen that quantum states are at no place, in general. So what does dynamical locality mean in quantum theory?

This locality (which, in particular, is a prerequisite for quantum field theory) is based on an important structure that goes beyond the mere Hilbert space structure of quantum theory. It requires (1) that there is a Hilbert space basis consisting of local states (usually a “classical configuration space”), and (2) that the Hamiltonian is a sum or spatial integral over corresponding local operators. (The first condition may require the inclusion of gauge degrees of freedom.) For example, the configuration space of a fundamental quantum field theory is expected to consist of the totality of certain classical field configurations on three- (or more-) dimensional space, while its Hamiltonian is an integral over products of these field operators and their derivatives. This form warrants dynamical locality (in relativistic and nonrelativistic form) in spite of the nonlocal kinematics of the generic quantum states.

So let us come back to the question why events and measurement results appear actual rather than virtual. In order to answer it we must first understand the difference between reversible and irreversible (uncontrollable) entanglement. For this purpose we have to take into account the realistic environment of a quantum system. We may then convince ourselves by means of explicit estimates that a macroscopic pointer cannot avoid becoming strongly entangled with its environment through an uncontrollable avalanche of interactions, while the quantum state of a microscopic variable remains almost unaffected in most cases.

This situation has been studied in much detail in the theory of decoherence444The concept of decoherence became known and popular through the “causal” chain Wigner-Wheeler-Zurek.  (while many important applications still remain to be investigated – for example in chemistry). It turns out that all phase relations between macroscopically different pointer positions become irreversibly nonlocal in this way for all practical purposes and within very short times – similar to the statistical correlations that would classically arise from Boltzmann’s molecular collisions. These chaotic correlations as well as the quantum phases become inaccessible and irrelevant for the future evolution, while they still exist according to the assumed deterministic dynamics. If the wave function did “lose meaning”, we would not be able to derive decoherence from universal quantum dynamics.

The asymmetry in time of this dissipation of correlations requires special initial conditions for the state of the universe – in quantum theory for its wave function . However, in contrast to classical statistical correlations, the arising entanglement (“quantum correlation”) affects the individual state: it represents a formal “plus” rather than an “or” that would characterize an ensemble.

Two conclusions have to be drawn at this point. Decoherence occurs according to the reversable dynamical laws (the Schrödinger equation) by means of an in practice irreversible process, and precisely where events seem to occur, but even this success does not lead to an ensemble representing incomplete information. The improper mixture does not become a proper one. We can neither unambiguously choose a specific ensemble to “represent” the reduced density matrix, nor even the subsystem to which the latter belongs.

From a fundamental point of view it would, therefore, be misleading in a twofold way to regard the entangled wave function as representing “quantum information”. This terminology suggests incorrectly (1) the presence of a (local) reality that is incompletely described or predicted by the wave function, and (2) the irrelevance of environmental decoherence for the measurement process (even though it has been experimentally confirmed ).

A further dynamical consequence of decoherence is essential for the pragmatic characterization of the observed classical physical world. Consider a two-state system with states $`|L>`$ and $`|R>`$ which are “continually measured” by their environment, and assume that they have exactly the same diagonal elements in a density matrix. Then this density matrix would be diagonal in any basis after complete decoherence. While a very small deviation from this degeneracy would soon resolve this deadlock, an exact equality could arise from an exactly symmetric initial state, $`|\pm >=(|R>\pm |L>)/\sqrt{2}`$. However, if we then measured $`|R>`$, say, a second measurement would confirm this result, while a measurement of $`|+>`$ (if possible) would give $`|+>`$ or $`|>`$ with equal probabilities when repeated after a short decoherence time. It is the “robustness” of a certain basis under decoherence (a “predictability sieve” in Zurek’s language) that gives rise to its classical appearance. In the case of a measurement apparatus it is then called a “pointer basis”.

This problem of degenerate probabilities remains present also for quasi-degenerate continua of states. For sufficiently massive particles (or macroscopic pointer variables), narrow wave packets may be robust even though they do not form an orthogonal basis that diagonalizes the density matrix. Their shape and size may change under decoherence in spite of their robustness. Collective variables (such as the amplitude of a surface vibration) are adiabatically “felt” (or “measured”) by the individual particles. For microscopic systems this would represent a mere dressing of the collective mode. (My original work on decoherence was indeed influenced by John Wheeler’s work on collective nuclear vibrations by means of generator coordinates .) However, decoherence must be irreversible. Even the germs of all cosmic inhomogeneities were irreversibly “created” by the power of decoherence in breaking the initial homogeneity during early inflation . In other cases, such as a gas under normal conditions, localized molecules seem to exist as a consequence of decoherence into narrow wave packets, while the latters’ lacking robustness prevents the formation of extended individual trajectories.

Nonetheless, something is still missing in the theory in order to arrive at definite events or outcomes of measurements, since the global superposition must still exist according to the Schrödinger equation. The most conventional way out of this dilemma would be to postulate an appropriate collapse of the wave function as a fundamental modification of unitary dynamics. Several models have been proposed in the literature (cf. ). They (quite unnecessarily) attempt to mimic precisely the observed environmental decoherence. However, since superpositions have now been confirmed far in the macroscopic realm, a Heisenberg cut for the application of the collapse may be placed anywhere between the counter (where decoherence first occurs in the observational chain) and the observer. The definition of subsystems in the intervening medium is entirely arbitrary, while the diagonalization of their reduced density matrices (the choice of their “pointer bases”) may be convenient, but is actually irrelevant for this purpose. An individual observer may even “solipsistically” assume the border line to exist in the observational chain after another human observer (who is usually referred to as “Wigner’s friend”, since Eugene Wigner first discussed this situation in the rôle of the final observer).

It would in fact not help very much to postulate a collapse to occur somewhere in the counter. The physical systems which carry the information from the counter to the observer, including his sensorium and even his brain, must all be described by quantum mechanics. Quantum theory applies everywhere, even where decoherence allows it to be approximately replaced by stochastic dynamics in terms of quasi-classical concepts (“consistent histories”). In an important paper, Max Tegmark  recently estimated that neuronal networks and even smaller subsystems of the brain are strongly affected by decoherence. While this result does allow (or even requires) probabilistic quantum effects, it excludes extended controllable superpositions in the brain, which might represent some kind of quantum computing. However, postulating a probability interpretation at this point would eliminate the need for postulating it anywhere else in the observational chain. It is the (local) classical world that seems to be an illusion!

Nobody knows as yet where precisely (and in fact whether) consciousness may be located as the “ultimate observer system”. Without any novel empirical evidence there is no way to decide where a collapse really occurs, or whether we have indeed to assume a superposition of many classical worlds – including “many minds”  for each observer – in accordance with a universal Schrödinger equation. It is sufficient for all practical purposes to know that, due to the irreversibility of decoherence, these different minds are dynamically autonomous (independent of each other) after an observation has been completed. Therefore, Tegmark’s quasi-digitalization of the neuronal system (similar to the $`|R,L>`$ system discussed above) may even allow us to define this subjective Everett branching by means of the diagonal form of the observer subsystem density matrix.

A genuine collapse (in the counter, for example) would produce an unpredictable result (described by one component of the wave function that existed prior to the collapse). The state of ignorance after a collapse with unobserved outcome is, therefore, described by the ensemble of all these components with corresponding probabilities. In order to reduce this ensemble by an increase of information, the observer has to interact with the detector in a quasi-classical process of observation. In the many-minds interpretation, in contrast, there is an objective process of decoherence that does not produce an ensemble. (The reduced density matrix resulting from decoherence can be treated for all practical purposes as though it represented one. This explains the apparently observed collapse of the wave function.) Even the superposition of the resulting many minds describes one quantum state of the universe. Only from a subjective (though objectivizable by entanglement) point of view would there be a transition into one of these many “minds” (without any intermediary ensemble in this case). This interpretation is reminiscent of Anaxagoras’ doctrine, proposed to separate Anaximander’s apeiron (a state of complete symmetry): “The things that are in a single world are not parted from one another, not cut away with an axe, neither the warm from the cold nor the cold from the warm. When Mind began to set things in motion, separation took place from each thing that was being moved, and all that Mind moved was separated.” (Quoted from , p. 482). Although, according to this quantum description, the rôle of “Mind” remains that of a passive (though essential) epi-phenomenon (that can never be explained in terms of physical conepts), we will see in the next section how Anaxagoras’ “doctrine” would even apply to the concepts of motion and time themselves.

In this specific sense one might introduce the terminology (though not as an explanation) that the global wave function represents “quantum information”. While decoherence transforms the formal “plus” of a superposition into an effective “and” (an apparent ensemble of new wave functions), this “and” becomes an “or” only with respect to a subjective observer. An additional assumption has still to be made in order to justify Born’s probabilities (which are meaningful to an individual mind in the form of frequencies in series of measurements): one has to assume that “our” (quantum correlated) minds are located in a component of the universal wave function with non-negligible norm . (Note that this is a probable assumption only after it has been made.) It is even conceivable that observers may not have been able to evolve at all in other branches, where Born’s rules would not hold .

## 5 The Wheeler-DeWitt Wave Function

The essential lesson of decoherence is that the whole universe must be strongly entangled. This is an unavoidable consequence of quantum dynamics under realistic assumptions. In principle, we would have to know the whole wave function of the universe in order to make local predictions. Fortunately, there are useful local approximations, and most things may be neglected in most applications that are relevant for us local observers. (Very few systems, such as the hydrogen atom, are sufficiently closed and simple to allow precision tests of the theory itself.)

For example, gravity seems to be negligible in most situations, but Einstein’s metric tensor defines space and time – concepts which are always relevant. Erich Joos  first argued that the quantized metric field is strongly decohered by matter, and may therefore usually be treated classically. However, some aspects of quantum gravity are essential from a fundamental and cosmological point of view.

General relativity (or any unified theory containing it) is invariant under reparametrization of the (physically meaningless) time coordinate $`t`$ that is used to describe the dynamics of the metric tensor. This invariance requires trajectories (in the corresponding configuration space) for which the Hamiltonian vanishes. This Hamiltonian constraint, $`H=0`$, can thus classically be understood as a conserved initial condition (a conserved “law of the instant”) for the time-dependent states. Upon quantization it assumes the form of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation (WDWE),

$$H\mathrm{\Psi }=0,$$

as the ultimate Schrödinger equation . This wave function $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ depends on all variables of the universe (matter and geometry, or any unified fields instead). Since now $`_t\mathrm{\Psi }=0`$, the static constraint is all that remains of dynamics. While the classical law of the instant is compatible with time dependent states (trajectories), time is entirely lost on a fundamental level according to the WDWE. For a wave function that describes reality, this result cannot be regarded as just formal. “Time is not primordial!”

Dynamical aspects are still present, however, since the WDW wave function $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ describes entanglement between all variables of the universe, including those representing appropriate clocks. Time dependence is thus replaced by quantum correlations . Among these variables is the spatial metric (“three-geometry”), which defines time as a many-fingered controller of motion for matter  (another deep conceptual insight of John Wheeler), just as Newton’s time controls motion in an absolute sense.

The general solution of this WDWE requires cosmic boundary conditions in its configuration space. They may not appear very relevant for “us”, since $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ describes the superposition of “many worlds”. Surprisingly, for Friedmann type universes, this static equation is of hyperbolic type after gauge degrees of freedom have been removed: the boundary value problem becomes an initial value problem with respect to the cosmic expansion parameter $`a`$ . For appropriate boundary conditions at $`a=0`$, this allows one to deduce a cosmic arrow of time (identical with that of cosmic expansion) . However, in the absence of external time $`t`$, there is neither any justification for interpreting the wave function of the whole universe in a classically forbidden region as describing a tunneling process (or the probability for an event), nor to distinguish between its expansion and contraction according to the phase of $`e^{\pm ia}`$ (see , for example). In contrast, an $`\alpha `$-particle is found with an outgoing wave after a metastable nuclear state has been prepared (in external time). Similar arguments as for a tunneling process apply to a classical “slow roll” of the universe along a descending potential well .

Since the Wheeler-DeWitt wave function represents a superposition of all three-geometries (entangled with matter), it does not describe quasi-classical histories (defined as one-dimensional successions of states, or instants). Kiefer was able to show  that such histories (which define spacetimes) can be approximately recovered by means of decoherence along WKB trajectories that arise according to a Born-Oppenheimer approximation with respect to the Planck mass. This leads to an effective time-dependent Schrödinger equation along each WKB trajectory in superspace (Wheeler’s term for the configuration space of three-geometries). Complex branch wave functions emerge thereby from the real WDW wave function by an intrinsic breaking of the symmetry of the WDWE under complex conjugation (cf. Sect. 9.6 of ). Each WKB trajectory then describes a whole (further branching) Everett universe for matter.

Claus Kiefer and I have been discussing the problem of timelessness with Julian Barbour (who wrote a popular book  about it) since the mid-eighties. Although we agree with him that time can only have emerged as an approximate concept from a fundamental timeless quantum world that is described by the Wheeler-DeWitt equation, our initial approach and even our present understandings differ. While Barbour regards a classical general-relativistic world as time-less, Kiefer and I prefer the interpretation that timelessness is a specific quantum aspect (since there are not even parametrizable trajectories in quantum theory). In classical general relativity, only absolute time (a preferred time parameter) is missing, while the concept of one-dimensional successions of states remains valid.

In particular, Barbour regards the classical configuration space (in contradistinction to the corresponding momentum space or to phase space) as a space of global actualities or “Nows”. Presuming that time does not exist (on the basis that there is no absolute time), he then concludes that trajectories (of which but one would be real in conventional classical description) must be replaced by the multi-dimensional continuum of all potential Nows (that he calls “Platonia”). He assumes this continuum to be “dynamically” controlled by the WDWE. After furthermore presuming a probability interpretation of the WDW wave function for his global Nows (in what may be regarded as a Bohm theory without trajectories), he is able to show along the lines of Mott’s theory of $`\alpha `$-particle tracks (and by using Kiefer’s results) that classical configurations which are considerably “off-track” (and thus without memory of an apparent history) are extremely improbable. Thus come memories without a history.

One might say that according to this interpretation the Wheeler-DeWitt wave function is a multidimensional generalization of one-dimensional time . Julian Barbour does not agree with this terminology, since he insists on the complete absence of time (although this may be a matter of words). I do not like this picture too much for other reasons, since I feel that global Nows are not required, and that the Hamiltonian symmetry between configuration space and momentum space is only dynamically – not conceptually – broken (by dynamical locality). Nonetheless, this is a neat and novel idea that I feel is worth being mentioned on this occasion.

## 6 That ITsy BITsy Wave Function

Reality became a problem in quantum theory when physicists desperately wanted to understand whether the electron or the photon “really” is a particle or a wave (in space). This quest aimed at no more than a conceptually consistent description that may have to be guessed, but would then be confirmed by all experiments. It was dismissed in the Copenhagen interpretation according to the program of complementarity (which has therefore also been called a “non-concept”). I have here neither argued for particles nor for spatial waves, but instead for Everett’s (nonlocal) wave function(al). It may serve as a consistent and universal kinematical concept, and in this sense as a description of reality (once supported also by John Wheeler ). The price may appear high: a vast multitude of separately observed (and thus, whith one exception, unobservable to us) quasi-classical universes in one huge superposition. However, similar to Everett I have here no more than extrapolated those concepts which are successfully used by quantum physicists. If this extrapolation is valid, the price would turn into an enormous dividend of grown knowledge about an otherwise hidden reality.

The concept of reality has alternatively been based on operationalism. Its elements are then defined by means of operations (performed by what Wheeler called “observer-participators” ), while these operations are themselves described in non-technical “every-day” terms in space and time. In classical physics, this approach led successfully to physical concepts which proved consistently applicable. An example is the electric field, which was defined by means of the force on (real or hypothetical) test particles. The required operational means (apparata) could afterwards be self-consistently described by using these new concepts themselves (partial reductionism). This approach fails in quantum theory, since, for example, quantum fields would be strongly affected (decohered) by test particles.

The investigation of quantum objects thus required various, mutually incompatible, operational means. This led to incompatible (or “complementary”) concepts, seemingly in conflict with a microscopic reality. Niels Bohr’s ingenuity allowed him to recognize this situation very early. Unfortunately, his enormous influence (together with the dogma that the concept of reality must be confined to objects in space and time) seems to have prevented his contemporaries to explain it in terms of a more general (nonlocal) concept that is successfully used but not directly accessible by means of operations: the universal wave function. In terms of this hypothetical reality we may now understand why certain (“classical”) properties are robust even when being observed, while microscopic objects may interact with mutually exclusive quasi-classical devices under the control of clever experimentalists. However, this does not mean that these quantum objects have to be fundamentally described by varying and incompatible concepts (waves or particles, for example).

If “it” (reality) is understood in the operationalist sense, while the wave function is regarded as “bit” (incomplete knowledge about the outcome of potential operations), then one or the other kind of it may indeed emerge from bit – depending on the “very conditions” of the operational situation. I expect that this will remain the pragmatic language for phyicists to describe their experiments for some time to come. However, if it is required to be described in terms of not necessarily operationally accessible but instead universally valid concepts, then the wave function remains as the only available candidate for it. In this case, bit (information as a dynamical functional form, as usual) may emerge from it, provided an appropriate (though as yet incompletely defined) version of a psycho-physical parallelism is postulated in terms of this nonlocal it. If quantum theory appears as a “smokey dragon” , the dragon itself may now be recognized as a universal wave function, partially veiled to us local beings by the “smoke” of its inherent entanglement.

However you turn it: In the Beginning Was the Wave Function. We may have to declare victory of the Schrödinger over the Heisenberg picture.