The Evolution And Collapse Of The Wavefunction Viewed Through Systemic Functional Linguistics

Penrose (2004: 528):

Let us review the descriptions in the previous chapter, where we had to become accustomed to the (non-relativistic) quantum particle as being something described by what we have called a state vector (or wavefunction) whose evolution is, in a very precise way, provided by the Schrödinger equation — until some measurement is performed on the system. … 

The jumping of the quantum state to one of the eigenstates of Q is the process referred to as state-vector reduction or collapse of the wavefunction. It is one of quantum theory’s most puzzling features, and we shall be coming back to this issue many times in this book. I believe that most quantum physicists would not regard state-vector reduction as a real action of the physical world, but that it reflects the fact that we should not regard the state vector as describing an ‘actual’ quantum-level physical reality. 

Nevertheless, irrespective of whatever attitude we might happen to have about of the physical reality of the phenomenon, the way in which quantum mechanics is used in practice is to take the state indeed to jump in this curious way whenever a measurement is deemed to take place. Immediately after the measurement, Schrödinger evolution takes over again — until another measurement is performed on the system, and so on.

Blogger Comments:

From the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistic Theory, the evolution of the wavefunction is the evolution of potential and the collapse of the wavefunction, when some measurement is performed on the system, is the instantiation of potential, when experience is construed as meaning in an act of observation.

In this view, the collapse of the wavefunction is not a 'real action of the physical world' but an act of construing experience as an instance of meaning of the physical domain. The wavefunction does not describe actual reality but construes potential reality.