Phrase guide

wavefunction collapse

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The phenomenon in which a wavefunction — initially in a superposition of several different possible eigenstates — appears to reduce to a single one of those states after interaction with an observer: the reduction of the physical possibilities into a single possibility as seen by an observer.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Qualifier: quantum mechanics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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Across languages

Translations

4 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 波函數坍縮 /波函数坍缩 (bōhánshù tānsuō) — Translations
  • German: Kollaps der Wellenfunktion — Translations
  • German: Zustandsreduktion — Translations
  • Polish: kolaps funkcji falowej — Translations