QUANTUM-MECHANICS FOR OBSERVER SYSTEMS

Following von Neumann, we posit an observer resolution of the von Neumann chain in quantum measurement; that is, the von Neumann chain is assumed to terminate when a conscious observer makes an observation. It has previously been shown by one of us (AG) that this interpretation of quantum mechanics, if construed within the philosophy of Platonic idealism, resolves all the usual paradoxes [Phys Essays 2, 385 (1989)]. However, the interpretation implies at once that the mind-brain is a macroscopic many-body quantum system [Found Phys. 12, 363 (1982); J. Mind Behavior 11, 75 (1990); ibid., to be published] and that this system does not quite ob conventional quantum mechanics (how else can the von Neumann chain terminate?), and an extension is necessary. In this paper we suggest such an extension in the form of a nonlinear Schrodinger equation; the nonlinear term is the self-referential measurement interaction of the system measuring itself. It is shown that observation or measurement puts memory or conditioning in the physical system that the observer represents, and after n measurements, n --> infinity, the system behaves classically. This encouraging, because conditioning is one of the most important features of the mind-brain. The immense implication of this solution in resolving the quantum/classical dichotomy in physics is discussed. Some comments are made on the applicability of this theory to quantum cosmology.