Papers on Measurement

Ken Krechmer’s papers are divided into Measurement and Isology studies. Isology studies are further subdivided into applications and theory. Each group of studies is listed chronologically.

Measurement Papers

To establish a rigorous basis for the study of Isology, these papers formalize standards and reference scales in a measurement system. Click where indicated to read further.

“Measurement Mechanics” is also available on the preprint site Qeios.
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This paper redefines metrology to explain the differences between representational theory (probabilistic) and metrology (deterministic). This is shown to unify these two measurement approaches and correlate the different formulations of measurement result deviation (uncertainty, standard deviation, mean, precision and accuracy) across the sciences.

“Calibration to a Reference Determines when Schrödinger’s Cats Die” is also available on the preprint site Qeios.
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In 1935 E. Schrödinger proposed a thought experiment to illustrate his concerns with superpositions in quantum measurements. It appears in his experiment that a cat is both alive and dead. This paradoxical superposition has not been completely explained before. This paper identifies that calibration to a reference, currently assumed to be only empirical in representational measurement theory, explains the paradox of Schrödinger’s cats.

“Measurement Unification” was published by the journal Measurement, Volume 182, September 2021, article #109625.
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Rationale:
• J. C. Maxwell recognized that a numerical value and a quantity are the form of all measurement results.
• The Mach-Zehnder interferometer experiments identify that the numerical value and quantity are independent.
• All measurements are numerical value comparisons which require equal quantities.
• Establishing equal quantities requires equalization by calibration.
• Including calibration explains the Schrödinger’s Cat experiment.

“Quantum entanglement is explained in classic terms” is a 600 word paper published in ScienceX, August 17, 2021.
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In many quantum measurement experiments and thought experiments, measurement results appear that do not seem to have classic explanations. As example: In quantum particle spin experiments, entangled particles appear to interact instantly across distances; and in interferometer experiments, one measurement result appears to be split over two paths. Currently, these measurement phenomena are treated as unique to quantum mechanics and not understandable in classic physics. Recognizing calibration in theory explains and resolves all the differences that appear to occur between classic and quantum measurements.

“Schrödinger’s Cat Explained”, a 1000 word paper, was published in Science X June 17, 2020.
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The following link is for the PDF version: ScienceXSchrodingercat.
In 1935, E. Schrödinger proposed his well-known cat thought experiment suggesting, but not explaining, how a measurement transforms the probable states of an atom into the actual state of a cat (alive or dead). Rather than applying quantum mechanics (the previous approach usually taken), this paper presents an out-of-the-box, logically consistent explanation using metrology (the science of physical measurement).

“The non-local nature of a measurement”, is published in Results in Physics, Volume 12, March 2019, Pages 403-404.
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This short paper identifies that the concept of a local measurement is always violated by a necessary metrological process – calibration. J. S. Bell’s formal development of the same violation demonstrates that the EPR paradox and related discontinuities may be resolved by including the calibration process in a measurement process, as formalized in Measurement, February 2018 “Relative Measurement Theory”.

“Relative Measurement Theory: The unification of experimental and theoretical measurements” is published in Measurement, Volume 116, February 2018, Pages 77–82.
Download 2018 PDF Measurement version from this link
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The discontinuous, non-causal and instantaneous changes due to a measurement that appear in quantum mechanics (QM) theory are not consistent with a classical understanding of physical reality, but are completely confirmed by experiments. Relative measurement theory explains why. This paper presents the first formal development of an experimental measurement which includes the uncertainty due to calibration and resolution. The uncertainty due to calibration and resolution, previously considered experimental artifacts, is shown to be equal to the uncertainty that appears in QM theory and experiment. When the calibration to a reference and resolution effects are considered, all the QM measurement discontinuities are consistent with classical explanations.A previous version,“Relational Measurements and Uncertainty”, was published in Measurement, Vol 93, Nov. 2016, pages 36-40.
Download 2016 PDF Measurement version from this link.

In representational measurement theory, the current theory of all measurements, calibration and sampling processes are assumed to be a linear transformation of the coordinate system, of no effect. In this paper calibration and sampling are shown to be independent non-linear processes which do change measurement results. Relational measurement theory is developed to include calibration and sampling. The measurement changes caused by calibration and sampling are proven to be equal to the quantum measurement disturbance described by the universal uncertainty relation which has been verified by experiments. Therefore relational measurement theory explains the measurement disturbance in quantum mechanics.