Rodney A. Brooks Quote

Field Collapse. The answer to Schrodinger's dilemma is what we now call field collapse. In QFT, when a field quantum interacts, it must interact as a unit. Half of the quantum cannot do one thing while the other half does another. If a quantum is absorbed by a molecule, the entire quantum must be absorbed, no matter how spread out it may be. If a quantum is scattered by a molecule in a cloud chamber, it can interact only with that molecule, and not with several molecules at the same time. As Art Hobson wrote,The tracks are made by successive individual interactions between a matter field and gas or water molecules. The matter field collapses...each time it interacts with a molecule, while spreading out as a matter field between impacts.However, I must remind you that field collapse, while a necessary consequence of the quantum nature of fields, is not described by the equations of QFT. This problem will be discussed further in Chapter 8 (The Gaps). Nonetheless, and even though many physicists find it a bitter pill to swallow, there is nothing inconsistent or paradoxical about field collapse. It just isn't what we expected.