September 19, 2024
The measurement problem in quantum mechanics hinges on a description of quantum systems in terms of their states (wave functions), with measurements being operations that correlate with unavoidable state changes. In this talk I present a geometric approach to measurements which takes them to be fundamental processes that occur interdependently with the origination of classical information. This approach can be regarded as a mathematical formalization of Wheeler's "it from bit," and it is based on a topological notion of space of measurements whose algebraic structure caters for a primitive notion of time and causality. Such a model emphasizes the mathematical structure of measurements, whereas states and observers are derived entities. I will focus on the definition and basic properties of measurement spaces and revisit the idea, following a previous talk at Models of Consciousness 1 (2019), that measurements should be identified with qualia.