Measurement by Phase Severance*

We assert that the measurement process is more accurately described by the phrase “quasi-local phase severance” than by “wave function collapse”. The basic theory we use already exists;l we emphasize here that it provides a straightforward resolution of the “measurement problem,” a fact that was not emphasized in the original presentation. Our approach starts from the observation by T. E. Phipps, Jr.2 that the usual route to quantum mechanics starting from the Hamilton-Jacobi equations throws away half the degrees of freedom, namely the classical initial state parameters. As he remarks elsewhere, 3 “I’m pretty absent mined myself, but when it comes to counting parameters, I’ll take on any performing horse (or non-performing physicist) .” His way of meeting this difficulty is to interpret the full set of HamiltonJacobi equations as operator equations acting on a state vector Q. When Q is a constant, the classical theory is obtained, while the assumption that the action has the constant value h/i leads to the conclusion that XI! is the conventional