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This study deals with the development of, and the current discussion about, the interpretation of quantum mechanics. The following topics are discussed: 1. The Copenhagen In terpretation; 2. Formal Problems of Quantum Mechanics; 3. Process of Measurement and the Equation of Motion; 4. Macroscopic Level of Description; 5. Search for Hidden Variables; 6. The Notion of 'Reality' and the Epistemology of Quantum Mechanics; and 7. Quantum Mechanics and the Explanation of Life. The Bohr-Einstein dialogue on the validity of the quan tum mechanical description of physical reality lasted over two decades. Since the early nineteen-fifties, Eugene Wigner has provided much of the point and counterpoint of the continuing discussion on the interpretation and epistemolo gy of quantum mechanics. We have explored Wigner's views in some detail against the background of historical develop ment and current debate. Professor Eugene Wigner has sustained me over many years in my work on the conceptual development of mod ern physics by his kindness and encouragement. This study owes its existence to his direct inspiration, and to his suggestion to me in April 1971 that it would be of interest to write an account of the interpretation of quantum me chanics and the current discussion about it. XII PREFACE This study was completed in September 1972. Signifi cant new developments have occurred since then in the dis cussion of questions related to the epistemology of quan tum mechanics.
This book is about the epistemology of quantum physics and its interpretation as a scientific theory in its technical form. The contents of the book are essentially of non-formal nature although the formalism of quantum mechanics is also investigated (rather briefly) inline with the needs and requirements of the epistemological investigation and considerations. The reader should note that a general scientific and mathematical background (at the undergraduate level) is required to understand the book properly and appreciate its contents. The book is like my previous books in style and favorable characteristics (such as clarity, graduality and intensive cross referencing with hyperlinks in the electronic versions). However, the book, unlike my previous books, does not contain questions or exercises or solved problems. The book is particularly useful to those who have special interest in the interpretative aspects of quantum theory and the philosophy of science although it should be useful even to those who are interested in the purely-scientific and technical aspects of the quantum theory since the contents of the book should broaden the understanding of these aspects and provide them with qualitative and interpretative dimensions (as well as the added benefit of the brief investigation of the formalism of quantum mechanics).
This book explores the prospects of rivaling ontological and epistemic interpretations of quantum mechanics (QM). It concludes with a suggestion for how to interpret QM from an epistemological point of view and with a Kantian touch. It thus refines, extends, and combines existing approaches in a similar direction. The author first looks at current, hotly debated ontological interpretations. These include hidden variables-approaches, Bohmian mechanics, collapse interpretations, and the many worlds interpretation. He demonstrates why none of these ontological interpretations can claim to be the clear winner amongst its rivals. Next, coverage explores the possibility of interpreting QM in terms of knowledge but without the assumption of hidden variables. It examines QBism as well as Healey’s pragmatist view. The author finds both interpretations or programs appealing, but still wanting in certain respects. As a result, he then goes on to advance a genuine proposal as to how to interpret QM from the perspective of an internal realism in the sense of Putnam and Kant. The book also includes two philosophical interludes. One details the notions of probability and realism. The other highlights the connections between the notions of locality, causality, and reality in the context of violations of Bell-type inequalities.
Christopher G. Timpson provides the first full-length philosophical treatment of quantum information theory and the questions it raises for our understanding of the quantum world. He argues for an ontologically deflationary account of the nature of quantum information, which is grounded in a revisionary analysis of the concepts of information.
Among the great ironies of quantum mechanics is not only that its conceptual foundations seem strange even to the physicists who use it, but that philosophers have largely ignored it. Here, Bernard d'Espagnat argues that quantum physics--by casting doubts on once hallowed concepts such as space, material objects, and causality-demands serious reconsideration of most of traditional philosophy. On Physics and Philosophy is an accessible, mathematics-free reflection on the philosophical meaning of the quantum revolution, by one of the world's leading authorities on the subject. D'Espagnat presents an objective account of the main guiding principles of contemporary physics-in particular, quantum mechanics-followed by a look at just what consequences these should imply for philosophical thinking. The author begins by describing recent discoveries in quantum physics such as nonseparability, and explicating the significance of contemporary developments such as decoherence. Then he proceeds to set various philosophical theories of knowledge--such as materialism, realism, Kantism, and neo-Kantism--against the conceptual problems quantum theory raises. His overall conclusion is that while the physical implications of quantum theory suggest that scientific knowledge will never truly describe mind-independent reality, the notion of such an ultimate reality--one we can never access directly or rationally and which he calls "veiled reality"--remains conceptually necessary nonetheless.
The structural aspects of composite quantum systems in the foundation, interpretation and application of quantum theory is an increasingly prominent topic of physics research. As an emerging field, it seeks to understand the origins of the classical world of experience from the quantum level.Quantum Structural Studies presents conceptual fundamentals and mathematical methods for investigating the structuring of quantum systems into subsystems. Split into four sections, the topics covered include the historical and philosophical aspects of quantum structures, specific interpretive approaches and ontologies, and alternative methodological approaches to quantum mechanics. Questions addressed are: Specialists, graduate students and researchers seeking an introduction to the field of emergent structures and new directions for research and experimentation can use this book to find up-to-date representative texts and reviews.
Presenting a striking new account of the 'many worlds' approach to quantum theory, aka the Everett interpretation, David Wallace offers a clear and up-to-date survey of work on this theory in physics and in philosophy of science.
Grasping Reality addresses the methodology of a sophisticated realistic approach to scientific as well as everyday recognition by using schemes and interpretative constructs to analyze theories and the practice of recognition from a hypothesis-realistic vantage point. The three main theses are: (1) Any OC graspingOCO of real objects, processes, entities etc. is deeply dependent on scheme interpretations and interpretative constructs OCo in short, on using schemes and constructs; the same applies to any sophisticated actions encroaching on reality; (2) a sophisticated interpretation-dependent realism is sketched out and defended from a methodological, non-foundational, epistemological point of view called pragmatic realism; (3) the most provocative thesis is generalized from the role of the well-known preparationist interpretation of quantum theory to everyday knowledge OCo the interpretative structuring and preparing of the experimental make-up as known in quantum mechanics is not just a special case but the rather general case of gaining any knowledge in science and everyday recognition. An appendix provides an overview regarding a realistic and pragmatic philosophy of technology, including the so-called new information technologies. Contents: OC GraspingOCO as Interpretation and Impregnation; Methodological Outline of the Systematic Scheme Interpretationism; Short Note about OC GraspingOCO in Traditional Philosophy; OC TruthOCO as a Metatheoretic Interpretative Construct; A Reappraisal Regarding OC TheoriesOCO and OC Theoretical ConceptsOCO: Towards an Action-Theoretical and Technology-Oriented Philosophy of Science and Epistemology; Reality Constructs and Different OC RealismsOCO From a Kantian Towards a Problematistic-Interpretationist Approach; Referential Realism as an Interactionist Interpretationism; Interpretation of Reality and Quantum Theory; R(r)sum(r): OC GraspingOCO as Acting in (Re)cognizing; Appendix OCo Progress and Characteristics of Traditional and New Technologies: Regarding a Realistic and Pragmatic Philosophy of Technology. Readership: Graduate and higher level undergraduate students as well as researchers in epistemology."
This comprehensive volume gives a balanced and systematic treatment of both the interpretation and the mathematical-conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics. It is written in a pedagogical style and addresses many thorny problems of fundamental physics. The first aspect concerns Interpretation. The author raises the central problems: formalism, measurement, non-locality, and causality. The main positions on these subjects are presented and critically analysed. The aim is to show that the main schools can converge on a core interpretation. The second aspect concerns Foundations. Here it is shown that the whole theory can be grounded on information theory. The distinction between information and signal leads us to integrating quantum mechanics and relativity. Category theory is presented and its significance for quantum information shown; the logic and epistemological bases of the theory are assessed. Of relevance to all physicists and philosophers with an interest in quantum theory and its foundations, this book is destined to become a classic work.
In this magisterial work, Roland Omnès takes us from the academies of ancient Greece to the laboratories of modern science as he seeks to do no less than rebuild the foundations of the philosophy of knowledge. One of the world's leading quantum physicists, Omnès reviews the history and recent development of mathematics, logic, and the physical sciences to show that current work in quantum theory offers new answers to questions that have puzzled philosophers for centuries: Is the world ultimately intelligible? Are all events caused? Do objects have definitive locations? Omnès addresses these profound questions with vigorous arguments and clear, colorful writing, aiming not just to advance scholarship but to enlighten readers with no background in science or philosophy. The book opens with an insightful and sweeping account of the main developments in science and the philosophy of knowledge from the pre-Socratic era to the nineteenth century. Omnès then traces the emergence in modern thought of a fracture between our intuitive, commonsense views of the world and the abstract and--for most people--incomprehensible world portrayed by advanced physics, math, and logic. He argues that the fracture appeared because the insights of Einstein and Bohr, the logical advances of Frege, Russell, and Gödel, and the necessary mathematics of infinity of Cantor and Hilbert cannot be fully expressed by words or images only. Quantum mechanics played an important role in this development, as it seemed to undermine intuitive notions of intelligibility, locality, and causality. However, Omnès argues that common sense and quantum mechanics are not as incompatible as many have thought. In fact, he makes the provocative argument that the "consistent-histories" approach to quantum mechanics, developed over the past fifteen years, places common sense (slightly reappraised and circumscribed) on a firm scientific and philosophical footing for the first time. In doing so, it provides what philosophers have sought through the ages: a sure foundation for human knowledge. Quantum Philosophy is a profound work of contemporary science and philosophy and an eloquent history of the long struggle to understand the nature of the world and of knowledge itself.