This book mathematically analyzes the basic problems of biology, decision making and psychology within the framework of the theory of open quantum systems. In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in applications of quantum theory in fields beyond physics. The main areas include psychology, decision-making, economics, finance, social science as well as genetics and molecular biology. The corresponding models are referred to as quantum-like; they don’t concern any genuine physical processes in the human brain. Quantum-like models reflect the special features of information processing in biological, cognitive, and social systems which match well with the quantum formalism. This formalism gives rise to the quantum probability model (QP) which differs essentially from Kolmogorov's classical probability model. QP also serves as the basis for quantum information theory. Recently QP has been widely applied to the resolution of the basic paradoxes of decision making theory and to modeling experimental data stemming from cognition, psychology, economics, and finance thereby shedding light on probability fallacies and irrational behavior. In this book, the theory of quantum instruments and the quantum master equation are applied to the modeling of biological and cognitive processes, in particular, to the stability of complex biological and social systems interacting with their environment. An essential part of the book is devoted to the theory of the social laser and the Fröhlich condensate.

This book is an outcome of the interdisciplinary conference held at OP Jindal Global University (Quantum Decision-making and Complexity modeling, and their possible applications in social sciences- economics, finance and public policy). The volume builds upon the emerging fields of Econophysics, Complexity theory and Quantum like modelling in cognition and social sciences, and their plausible applications in economics and public policy. There can be deep linkages between the micro, meso and macro scales at which these paradigms operate. In this data-driven age, greater amounts of information, along with the facility to harvest, sort and process said information, have permitted an expansion of the capability to study a society’s various factors to a degree of detail and inclusiveness that has never before been available to researchers. As a result, an increasing number of throughlines is being discovered, revealing heretofore unknown connections between various disciplines and enhancing the study of such societal tropes as finance, language, shared behavior, and many others. As the reader will see, with clearer understanding of the interconnectedness of society’s assorted parts comes a clearer understanding of the society as a whole. We have received critical thoughts from noted experts in social and natural sciences to explore possible interconnections. The editors of this book earnestly hope that the critical reviews presented in this volume will stimulate further scholarly interest, but also interest among policy practitioners for the purpose of exploring possibilities for creating a new paradigm for comprehending pressing issues of deep uncertainty and emergence in social dynamics.

It is not intuitive to accept that there exists a link between quantum physical systems and cognitive systems. However, recent research has shown that cognitive systems and collective (social) systems, including biology, exhibit uncertainty which can be successfully modelled with quantum probability. The use of such probability allows for the modelling of situations which typically violate the laws of classical probability. The Palgrave Handbook of Quantum Models in Social Science is is a unique volume that brings together contributions from leading experts on key topics in this new and emerging field. Completely self-contained, it begins with an introductory section which gathers all the fundamental notions required to be able to understand later chapters. The handbook then moves on to address some of the latest research and applications for quantum methods in social science disciplines, including economics, politics and psychology. It begins with the issue of how the quantum mechanical framework can be applied to economics. Chapters devoted to this topic range from how Fisher information can be argued to play a role in economics, to the foundations and application of quantum game theory. The handbook then progresses in considering how belief states can be updated with the theory of quantum measurements (and also with more general methods). The practical use of the Hilbert space (and Fock space) in decision theory is then introduced, and open quantum systems are also considered. The handbook also treats a model of neural oscillators that reproduces some of the features of quantum cognition. Other contributions delve into causal reasoning using quantum Bayes nets and the role of quantum probability in modelling so called affective evaluation. The handbook is rounded off with two chapters which discuss the grand challenges which lie ahead of us. How can the quantum formalism be justified in social science and is the traditional quantum formalism too restrictive? Finally, a question is posed: whether there is a necessary role for quantum mathematical models to go beyond physics. This book will bring the latest and most cutting edge research on quantum theory to social science disciplines. Students and researchers across the discipline, as well as those in the fields of physics and mathematics will welcome this important addition to the literature.

The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Spirituality and Contemplative Studies provides the first authoritative overview of methodology in this growing field. Against the background of the pandemic and other global challenges, spirituality is expanding as an agreed term with which to discuss the efforts people make to be fully present to deeper, invisible dimensions of their personal identity and external reality, but until now there have been few resources exploring the different methodological approaches researchers take. This book explores the primary methodologies emerging: First Person, Second Person, and Third Person, and provides a systematisation of spirituality research in applied contexts for the first time. Comprising 33 chapters by a team of international contributors, the book is divided into seven parts: Foundations Approaches to Contemplative Research Contemplative Research in Education Contemplative Research in Work and Leadership Contemplative Research in Science, Health, and Healing Contemplative Research in Social Sciences Contemplative Research and the Way Forward The Handbook provides readers, practitioners, and policymakers with methods and approaches which can facilitate a spiritual and contemplative stance in research activities. It is an essential resource for researchers and students of Religion, Spirituality, and Research Methods.

This book examines information processing performed by bio-systems at all scales: from genomes, cells and proteins to cognitive and even social systems. It introduces a theoretical/conceptual principle based on quantum information and non-Kolmogorov probability theory to explain information processing phenomena in biology as a whole. The book begins with an introduction followed by two chapters devoted to fundamentals, one covering classical and quantum probability, which also contains a brief introduction to quantum formalism, and another on an information approach to molecular biology, genetics and epigenetics. It then goes on to examine adaptive dynamics, including applications to biology, and non-Kolmogorov probability theory. Next, the book discusses the possibility to apply the quantum formalism to model biological evolution, especially at the cellular level: genetic and epigenetic evolutions. It also presents a model of the epigenetic cellular evolution based on the mathematical formalism of open quantum systems. The last two chapters of the book explore foundational problems of quantum mechanics and demonstrate the power of usage of positive operator valued measures (POVMs) in biological science. This book will appeal to a diverse group of readers including experts in biology, cognitive science, decision making, sociology, psychology, and physics; mathematicians working on problems of quantum probability and information and researchers in quantum foundations.

This proceedings volume gathers selected, peer-reviewed papers presented at the 41st International Conference on Infinite Dimensional Analysis, Quantum Probability and Related Topics (QP41) that was virtually held at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, from March 28th to April 1st, 2021. The works cover recent developments in quantum probability and infinite dimensional analysis, with a special focus on applications to mathematical physics and quantum information theory. Covered topics include white noise theory, quantum field theory, quantum Markov processes, free probability, interacting Fock spaces, and more. By emphasizing the interconnection and interdependence of such research topics and their real-life applications, this reputed conference has set itself as a distinguished forum to communicate and discuss new findings in truly relevant aspects of theoretical and applied mathematics, notably in the field of mathematical physics, as well as an event of choice for the promotion of mathematical applications that address the most relevant problems found in industry. That makes this volume a suitable reading not only for researchers and graduate students with an interest in the field but for practitioners as well.

This book describes state-of-the-art economic ideas and how these ideas can be (and are) used to make economic decision (in particular, to optimally allocate assets) and to gauge the results of different economic decisions (in particular, by using optimal transport methods). Special emphasis is paid to machine learning techniques (including deep learning) and to different aspects of quantum econometrics—when quantum physics and quantum computing models are techniques are applied to study economic phenomena. Applications range from more traditional economic areas to more non-traditional topics such as economic aspects of tourism, cryptocurrencies, telecommunication infrastructure, and pandemic. This book helps student to learn new techniques, practitioners to become better knowledgeable of the state-of-the-art econometric techniques, and researchers to further develop these important research directions

Creating a rigorous mathematical theory of randomness is far from being complete, even in the classical case. Probability and Randomness: Quantum versus Classical rectifies this and introduces mathematical formalisms of classical and quantum probability and randomness with brief discussion of their interrelation and interpretational and foundational issues. The book presents the essentials of classical approaches to randomness, enlightens their successes and problems, and then proceeds to essentials of quantum randomness. Its wide-ranging and comprehensive scope makes it suitable for researchers in mathematical physics, probability and statistics at any level.

Traditional approaches to cognitive psychology correspond with a classical view of logic and probability theory. More specifically, one typically assumes that cognitive processes of human thought are founded on the Boolean structures of classical logic, while the probabilistic aspects of these processes are based on the Kolmogorovian structures of classical probability theory. However, growing experimental evidence indicates that the models founded on classical structures systematically fail when human decisions are at stake. These experimental deviations from classical behavior have been called `paradoxes’, `fallacies’, `effects’ or `contradictions’, depending on the specific situation where they appear. But, they involve a broad spectrum of cognitive and social science domains, ranging from conceptual combination to decision making under uncertainty, behavioral economics, and linguistics. This situation has constituted a serious drawback to the development of various disciplines, like cognitive science, linguistics, artificial intelligence, economic modeling and behavioral finance. A different approach to cognitive psychology, initiated two decades ago, has meanwhile matured into a new domain of research, called ‘quantum cognition’. Its main feature is the use of the mathematical formalism of quantum theory as modeling tool for these cognitive situations where traditional classically based approaches fail. Quantum cognition has recently attracted the interest of important journals and editing houses, academic and funding institutions, popular science and media. Specifically, within a quantum cognition approach, one assumes that human decisions do not necessarily obey the rules of Boolean logic and Kolmogorovian probability, and can on the contrary be modeled by the quantum-mechanical formalism. Different concrete quantum-theoretic models have meanwhile been developed that successfully represent the cognitive situations that are classically problematical, by explaining observed deviations from classicality in terms of genuine quantum effects, such as `contextuality’, `emergence’, `interference’, `superposition’, `entanglement’ and `indistinguishability’. In addition, the validity of these quantum models is convincingly confirmed by new experimental tests. We also stress that, since the use of a quantum-theoretic framework is mainly for modeling purposes, the identification of quantum structures in cognitive processes does not presuppose (without being incompatible with it) the existence of microscopic quantum processes in the human brain. In this Research Topic, we review the major achievements that have been obtained in quantum cognition, by providing an accurate picture of the state-of-the-art of this emerging discipline. Our overview does not pretend to be either complete or exhaustive. But, we aim to introduce psychologists and social scientists to this challenging new research area, encouraging them, at the same time, to consider its promising results. It is our opinion that, if continuous progress in this domain can be realized, quantum cognition can constitute an important breakthrough in cognitive psychology, and potentially open the way towards a new scientific paradigm in social science.

Written by world experts in the foundations of quantum mechanics and its applications to social science, this book shows how elementary quantum mechanical principles can be applied to decision-making paradoxes in psychology and used in modelling information in finance and economics. The book starts with a thorough overview of some of the salient differences between classical, statistical and quantum mechanics. It presents arguments on why quantum mechanics can be applied outside of physics and defines quantum social science. The issue of the existence of quantum probabilistic effects in psychology, economics and finance is addressed and basic questions and answers are provided. Aimed at researchers in economics and psychology, as well as physics, basic mathematical preliminaries and elementary concepts from quantum mechanics are defined in a self-contained way.