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Related papers: On the Reality of the Wavefunction

200 papers

Quantum mechanics is an outstandingly successful description of nature, underpinning fields from biology through chemistry to physics. At its heart is the quantum wavefunction, the central tool for describing quantum systems. Yet it is…

The analysis of Pusey, Barrett and Rudolph aims to show there can be no objective physical reality which underlies, and is more general than, the state vector. But there appears to be a gap in their reasoning. To show their result, they use…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2015-11-18 Casey Blood

My view on the meaning of the quantum wave function and its connection to protective measurements is described. The wave function and only the wave function is the ontology of the quantum theory. Protective measurements support this view…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2014-02-28 Lev Vaidman

In this paper I review three different positions on the wave function, namely: nomological realism, dispositionalism, and configuration space realism by regarding as essential their capacity to account for the world of our experience. I…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2015-03-05 Mauro Dorato

We review the Pusey-Barret-Rudolph (PBR) theorem\cite{PBR} and their setup, and arrive to the conclusion that the reality of a quantum state $\psi$ is intrinsically attached to the measurement the system described by $\psi$ has undergone.…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2018-10-29 Natalia Sánchez-Kuntz , Eduardo Nahmad-Achar

A new ontological view of the quantum measurement processes is given, which has bearings on many broader issues in the foundations of quantum mechanics as well. In this scenario a quantum measurement is a non-equilibrium phase transition in…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2007-05-23 Xiaolei Zhang

What ontology does realism about the quantum state suggest? The main extant view in contemporary philosophy of physics is wave-function realism. We elaborate the sense in which wave-function realism does provide an ontological picture; and…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2009-07-31 David Wallace , Christopher G Timpson

An overview of the Pondicherry interpretation of quantum mechanics is presented. This interpretation proceeds from the recognition that the fundamental theoretical framework of physics is a probability algorithm, which serves to describe an…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2009-11-10 Ulrich Mohrhoff

Epistemic models of nature prove to be problematic in many settings, particularly in those in which measurement procedures are ill-defined. By contrast, in ontological models of nature, measurement results are independent of the procedure…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2018-12-06 Ian T. Durham

The PBR theorem has been hailed as one of the most important theorems in the foundations of quantum mechanics (QM), , cf. E. Samuel Reich, "Quantum theorem shakes foundations", Nature (2011). Here we argue that the special measurement, used…

General Physics · Physics 2023-07-12 Marcoen J. T. F. Cabbolet

The paper addresses the debate about the empirical status of particles versus wave functions in Bohmian quantum mechanics. It thereby clarifies questions and misconceptions about the role of the particles in the measurement process, the…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2019-03-13 Dustin Lazarovici

In QBism the wave function does not represent an element of physical reality external to the agent, but represent an agent's personal probability assignments, reflecting his subjective degrees of belief about the future content of his…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-01-08 Shan Gao

In Nature Phys. 8:475-478 (2012), Pusey, Barrett, and Rudolph have claimed that {\psi}-epistemic quantum mechanics (QM) is inconsistent with predictions of standard QM. Here we show that Pusey et al. err in the beginning of their argument…

General Physics · Physics 2018-12-20 Marcoen J. T. F. Cabbolet

Measurement Independence is an assumption used in foundational arguments since the EPR thought experiment in 1935, and assumed in a majority of hidden variable models of QM. In this thesis we review the crucial role of this assumption in…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2017-05-09 Indrajit Sen

The parametrisation method for invariant manifolds is a powerful technique for deriving reduced-order models in the context of nonlinear vibrating systems, allowing accurate computations of nonlinear normal modes. Thanks to arbitrary order…

Numerical Analysis · Mathematics 2026-03-19 André de Figueiredo Stabile , Aurélien Grolet , Alessandra Vizzaccaro , Cyril Touzé

In theory, ontology-based process modelling (OBPM) bares great potential to extend business process management. Many works have studied OBPM and are clear on the potential amenities, such as eliminating ambiguities or enabling advanced…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2021-07-14 Carl Corea , Michael Fellmann , Patrick Delfmann

It is proved the mathematical theorem, that the wave function describes the statistical ensemble of particles, but not a single particle. Supposition, that the wave function describes a single particle appears to be incompatible with…

General Physics · Physics 2007-05-23 Yuri Rylov

The ontology of Bohmian mechanics includes both the universal wave function (living in 3N-dimensional configuration space) and particles (living in ordinary 3-dimensional physical space). Proposals for understanding the physical…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2014-10-15 Travis Norsen , Damiano Marian , Xavier Oriols

Pusey, Barrett and Rudolph (PBR) have recently proven an important new theorem in the foundations of quantum mechanics. Here we propose alternative experimental protocols which lead to the PBR result for a special case and a weaker PBR-like…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2013-05-30 D. J. Miller

We investigate the meaning of the wave function by analyzing the mass and charge density distributions of a quantum system. According to protective measurement, a charged quantum system has mass and charge density distributing in space,…

General Physics · Physics 2011-07-19 Shan Gao