2 ms·
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by btilly 6y ago
This is true. My favorite such article is https://michaelberryphysics.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/berry337.pdf https://michaelberryphysics.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/berr....
In classical mechanics, small initial perturbations can have an ever widening effect with exponential growth in consequences without bound.
In quantum mechanics, the Schrödinger equation is linear. There cannot be any exponential growth lasting forever - there is a linear bound!
The field of quantum chaos is devoted to resolving this apparent paradox.
The answer for a closed system is that the quantum mechanical system can approximate the classical system very well for a limited time. After that the quantum mechanical system will start repeating itself and show some decidedly non-classical behavior. This time is sometimes called the "quantum break time".
The answer for an open system is that every interaction with the outside environment can change the state of the quantum mechanical system, and the appearance of chaos can then be maintained for unlimited times.