wavefunction collapse

English

Noun

wavefunction collapse (countable and uncountable, plural wavefunction collapses)

1. (quantum mechanics) The phenomenon in which a wavefunction — initially in a superposition of several different possible eigenstates — appears to reduce to a single one of those states after interaction with an observer: the reduction of the physical possibilities into a single possibility as seen by an observer.

Synonyms

• state vector collapse

See also

• measurement problem, quantum measurement problem
• uncertainty principle