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In a cloud chamber, the quantum measurement problem amounts to explaining thefirst droplet in a charged-particle track; subsequent droplets are explained byMott's 1929 wave-theoretic argument about collision-induced wavefunctioncollimation. I formulate a mechanism for how the first droplet in a cloudchamber track arises, making no reference to quantum measurement axioms. I lookspecifically at tracks of charged particles emitted in the simplest slowdecays, because I can reason about rather than guess the form that wave packetstake. The first visible droplet occurs when a randomly occurring,barely-subcritical vapor droplet is pushed past criticality by ionizationtriggered by the faint wavefunction of the emitted charged particle. This ispossible because potential energy incurred when an ionized vapor moleculepolarizes the other molecules in a droplet can balance the excitation energyneeded for the emitted charged particle to create the ion in the first place.This degeneracy is a singular condition for Coulombic scattering, leading toinfinite or near-infinite ionization cross sections, and from there to anemergent Born rule in position space, but not an operator projection as in theprojection postulate. Analogous mechanisms may explain canonical quantummeasurement behavior in detectors such as ionization chambers, proportionalcounters, photomultiplier tubes or bubble chambers. This work is importantbecause attempts to understand canonical quantum measurement behavior and itslimitations have become urgent in view of worldwide investment in quantumcomputing and in searches for super-rare process (e.g., proton decay).

The first droplet in a cloud chamber track