Paper detail

New Modal Quantum Mechanics

We describe an interpretation of quantum mechanics based on reduced density matrices of sub-systems from which the standard Copenhagen interpretation emerges as an effective description for macro-systems. The interpretation is a modal one, but does not suffer from the range of problems that plague other modal interpretations. The key feature is that quantum states carry an additional property assignment in the form of one the eigenvectors of the reduced density matrix which evolves evolves according to a stochastic process driven by the unmodified Schrodinger equation, but it is usually hidden from the emergent classical description due to the ergodic nature of its dynamics. However, during a quantum measurement, ergodicity is broken by decoherence and definite outcomes occur with probabilities that agree with the Born rule.