Wave Function Collapse, Correlating Interactions, and Conservation Laws

Abstract: The assumption that wave function collapse is induced by correlating interactions of the kind that constitute measurements leads to a stochastic collapse equation that does not require the introduction of any new physical constants and that is consistent with conservation laws. The collapse operator is based on the interaction (potential) energy, with a variable timing parameter related to the rate at which individual interactions generate the correlations. The approximate localization of physical systems follows from the distance-dependent nature of the interaction potentials. The equation is consistent with strict conservation of momentum and orbital angular momentum, and it is also consistent with energy conservation within the accuracy allowed by the limited forms of energy that can be described within nonrelativistic theory. The possibility of extending the proposal to a fully relativistic version is discussed.