Quantum measurement via Born-Oppenheimer adiabatic dynamics

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Abstract
The Born-Oppenheimer adiabatic approximation is used to describe the dynamic realization of wave-function collapse in quantum measurement. In the adiabatic limit, it is shown that the wave function of the total system formed by the measured quantum system plus the measuring apparatus can be factorized as an entangled state with correlation between adiabatic quantum states and quasiclassical motion configurations of the large system. When the apparatus effectively behaves as a classical object, this adiabatic entanglement leads to the wave-function collapse, which creates an ideal quantum measurement process.