The Conceptions of Reality in the Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics PDF Download

Author: Gerd Christian Krizek
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031657861
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 169

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Author: Gerd Christian Krizek
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783031657856
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This book explores the different conceptions of reality in the various interpretations of Quantum Mechanics, demonstrating the intimate connection to philosophy of physics. With interest in the foundations of Quantum Mechanics having revived in recent decades, a number of interpretations have been formulated or rediscovered and these remain in strong competition with one another for acceptance by the scientific community. At the same time they imply quite different notions of reality. The author provides an overview of these conceptions of reality and their embedding in physical theories, interpretations of Quantum Mechanics and related philosophical frameworks. Starting with Aristotle’s principles, the deep fruitful connection between philosophy and physics guides this journey through the foundations of Quantum Mechanics.

Author: Simon Saunders
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191614114
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 636

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Book Description
What does realism about the quantum state imply? What follows when quantum theory is applied without restriction, if need be, to the whole universe? These are the questions which an illustrious team of philosophers and physicists debate in this volume. All the contributors are agreed on realism, and on the need, or the aspiration, for a theory that unites micro- and macroworlds, at least in principle. But the further claim argued by some is that if you allow the Schrödinger equation unrestricted application, supposing the quantum state to be something physically real, then this universe is one of countlessly many others, constantly branching in time, all of which are real. The result is the many worlds theory, also known as the Everett interpretation of quantum mechanics. The contrary claim sees this picture of many worlds as in no sense inherent in quantum mechanics, even when the latter is allowed unrestricted scope and even given that the quantum state itself is something physically real. For this picture of branching worlds fails to make physical sense, let alone common sense, even on its own terms. The status of these worlds, what they are made of, is never adequately explained. Ordinary ideas about time and identity over time become hopelessly compromised. The concept of probability itself is brought into question. This picture of many branching worlds is inchoate, it is a vision, an error. There are realist alternatives to many worlds, some even that preserve the Schrödinger equation unchanged. Twenty specially written essays, accompanied by commentaries and discussions, examine these claims and counterclaims in depth. They focus first on the question of ontology, the existence of worlds (Part 1 and 2), second on the interpretation of probability (Parts 3 and 4), and third on alternatives or additions to many worlds (Parts 5 and 6). The introduction offers a helpful guide to the arguments for the Everett interpretation, particularly as they have been formulated in the last two decades.

Author: Wolfram Schommers
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642955703
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Schommers introduces the foundations, mostly from a histori- cal point of view. Eberhard gives an introductory account of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox and Bell's celebrated inequalities. D'Espagnat discusses realism andseparability and concludes that contemporary physics does not lead to a definite conception of the world. Eberhard shows how a model consistent with Bell's theorem can be constructed by ad- mitting faster-than-light action at a distance. Schommers discusses the structure ofspace-time and argues that physi- cally real processes do not take place in but are projected on space-time. Selleri discusses the idea that objectively real quantum waves exist and could in principle be detected.

Author: Nick Herbert
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 030780674X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
This clearly explained layman's introduction to quantum physics is an accessible excursion into metaphysics and the meaning of reality. Herbert exposes the quantum world and the scientific and philosophical controversy about its interpretation.

Author: David Glick
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198831501
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
Are space and time fundamental features of our world or might they emerge from something else? The Foundation of Reality brings together metaphysicians and philosophers of physics working on space, time, and fundamentality to address this timely question. Recent developments in the interpretation of quantum mechanics and the understanding of certain approaches to quantum gravity have led philosophers of physics to propose that space and time might be emergent rather than fundamental. But such discussions are often conducted without engagement with those working on fundamentality and related issues in contemporary metaphysics. This book aims to correct this oversight. The diverse contributions to this volume address topics including the nature of fundamentality, the relation of space and time to quantum entanglement, and space and time in theories of quantum gravity. Only through consideration of a range of different approaches to the topic can we hope to get clear on the status of space and time in our contemporary understanding of physical reality.

Author: Detlef Dürr
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 354089344X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 395

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Book Description
Bohmian Mechanics was formulated in 1952 by David Bohm as a complete theory of quantum phenomena based on a particle picture. It was promoted some decades later by John S. Bell, who, intrigued by the manifestly nonlocal structure of the theory, was led to his famous Bell's inequalities. Experimental tests of the inequalities verified that nature is indeed nonlocal. Bohmian mechanics has since then prospered as the straightforward completion of quantum mechanics. This book provides a systematic introduction to Bohmian mechanics and to the mathematical abstractions of quantum mechanics, which range from the self-adjointness of the Schrödinger operator to scattering theory. It explains how the quantum formalism emerges when Boltzmann's ideas about statistical mechanics are applied to Bohmian mechanics. The book is self-contained, mathematically rigorous and an ideal starting point for a fundamental approach to quantum mechanics. It will appeal to students and newcomers to the field, as well as to established scientists seeking a clear exposition of the theory.

Author: Jonathan Allday
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1584887044
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 590

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Book Description
Probably the most successful scientific theory ever created, quantum theory has profoundly changed our view of the world and extended the limits of our knowledge, impacting both the theoretical interpretation of a tremendous range of phenomena and the practical development of a host of technological breakthroughs. Yet for all its success, quantum t

Author: Michael B. Mensky
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9814291420
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
The phenomenon of consciousness includes mysterious aspects providing a basis for many spiritual doctrines (including religions) and psychological practices. These directions of human knowledge are usually considered to contradict the laws of science. However, quantum mechanics ? in a sense, the mysterious direction of science ? allows us to include the phenomena of consciousness and life as well as the relevant phenomena in the sphere of science.Wolfgang Pauli, one of the pioneers of quantum mechanics, together with great psychologist Carl Gustav Jung, guessed about the relation between quantum mechanics and consciousness in the beginning of the twentieth century. However, only ?many-worlds? interpretation of quantum mechanics, proposed in 1957 by Hugh Everett III, gave the real basis for the systematic investigation of this relation.Roger Penrose, one of the apologists of the relation between quantum mechanics and consciousness, claimed in his Last book ?The Road to Reality? that the Everett's interpretation may be estimated only after creating the theory of consciousness. Thereagainst, the author has proposed in 2000 and further elaborates in this book, the so-called Extended Everett's Concept, that allows one to derive the main features of consciousness and super-consciousness (intuition, or direct vision of truth) from quantum mechanics. This is exposed in this book in a form intelligible for a wide audience.

Author: Bernard d'Espagnat
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319554204
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
In this largely nontechnical book, eminent physicists and philosophers address the philosophical impact of recent advances in quantum physics. These are shown to shed new light on profound questions about realism, determinism, causality or locality. The participants contribute in the spirit of an open and honest discussion, reminiscent of the time when science and philosophy were inseparable. After the editors’ introduction, the next chapter reveals the strangeness of quantum mechanics and the subsequent discussions examine our notion of reality. The spotlight is then turned to the topic of decoherence. Bohm’s theory is critically examined in two chapters, and the relational interpretation of quantum mechanics is likewise described and discussed. The penultimate chapter presents a proposal for resolving the measurement problem, and finally the topic of loop quantum gravity is presented by one of its founding fathers, Carlo Rovelli. The original presentations and discussions on which this volume is based took place under the auspices of the French “Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques”. The book will appeal to everybody interested in knowing how our description of the world is impacted by the results of the most powerful and successful theory that physicists have ever built.