Decoherence, the measurement problem, and interpretations of quantum mechanics

Maximilian Schlosshauer

Published 2003-12-06, updated 2005-06-28Version 4

Environment-induced decoherence and superselection have been a subject of intensive research over the past two decades, yet their implications for the foundational problems of quantum mechanics, most notably the quantum measurement problem, have remained a matter of great controversy. This paper is intended to clarify key features of the decoherence program, including its more recent results, and to investigate their application and consequences in the context of the main interpretive approaches of quantum mechanics.