Irreversibility and quantum measurement—The observer’s role

Abstract

The role of the observer in physical theories in the sense of the observer’s viewpoint determining prominent features of the observed phenomena is discussed with reference to the problem of irreversibility and quantum measurement, the latter being closely related to the problem of classical behaviour of quantum systems. A completely subjective interpretation of irreversibility is proposed. It is claimed that irreversibility belongs only to phenomena as observed by a restricted observer who must project all phenomena on a restricted subset of the set of all possible states. The possibility of a completely unrestricted observer who does not see irreversibility is discussed.