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It seems to me that the tag is misused almost as much as the tag. Would it make sense to (1) put a more clear warning on the tag description and maybe (2) introduce a new tag for questions involving quantum mechanical measurements, e.g. [quantum-measurement], which unaware askers might be more likely to pick?

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  • $\begingroup$ Would it be a solution to rename the tag [measurement-problem] as [quantum-measurement-problem]? $\endgroup$
    – Qmechanic Mod
    Aug 8, 2018 at 13:05
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    $\begingroup$ @Qmechanic I doubt this helps. The questions which are tagged with it are questions about measurements in quantum mechanics (at least, that's where I stuble upon them), but they mostly have nothing to do with the measurement problem. (I occasionally retag them, so there should be a few less ... ) I think people just use the tag for problems involving measurements. $\endgroup$ Aug 8, 2018 at 13:07
  • $\begingroup$ Current example: physics.stackexchange.com/q/421694 $\endgroup$ Aug 8, 2018 at 13:08
  • $\begingroup$ The measurement-problem tag already has some pretty loud warnings attached to it, so I'm not very sure that more warnings would help (but maybe they can be streamlined). Setting up an alternative tag where the non-specific questions can go is an interesting idea, though. (But then [quantum-measurement] sounds sub-optimal to me.) $\endgroup$ Aug 8, 2018 at 15:31
  • $\begingroup$ @EmilioPisanty As far as I can see it only says "DO NOT USE THIS TAG for non-quantum measurements." That's not my concern. $\endgroup$ Aug 8, 2018 at 15:35
  • $\begingroup$ Part of the problem is that the current tag info description for the [measurement-problem] tag seems incomplete. Is there a user who would volunteer to improve this tag info? $\endgroup$
    – Qmechanic Mod
    Aug 8, 2018 at 15:45
  • $\begingroup$ @Qmechanic I'd say the first sentence on Wikipedia is not so bad: "The measurement problem in quantum mechanics is the problem of how (or whether) wave function collapse occurs." $\endgroup$ Aug 8, 2018 at 16:03
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    $\begingroup$ Norbert Schuch: Could you improve/edit the tag info accordingly? $\endgroup$
    – Qmechanic Mod
    Aug 8, 2018 at 16:22
  • $\begingroup$ @Qmechanic Can do. Should the name stay, or would you suggest to rename it to [quantum-measurement-problem]? (Not sure whether it is misused for classical measurement.) $\endgroup$ Aug 8, 2018 at 16:32
  • $\begingroup$ Good. Assume for now in your edits that we keep the name [measurement-problem]. We can always later rename if the community think so. $\endgroup$
    – Qmechanic Mod
    Aug 8, 2018 at 16:35
  • $\begingroup$ @Qmechanic Sure. In any case, what might be more useful IMO would be a tag [quantum-measurement] or so. I'd assume people type measurement -- if they see [quantum-measurement] as a completion, they might be more likely to select this. $\endgroup$ Aug 8, 2018 at 16:37
  • $\begingroup$ @Qmechanic I have clarified the tag info accordingly. I have not extended the explanation, since (1) I think the current formulation captures the essence of the measurement problem and (2) it would quickly go into foundational issues to elaborate on that (which is not my cup of tea anyway). $\endgroup$ Aug 8, 2018 at 16:47
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    $\begingroup$ I guess I'll just go ahead and create a [quantum-measurement] tag, and then we can just follow up to see if it being used. $\endgroup$ Aug 8, 2018 at 22:55

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