Related papers: Copenhagen Interpretation Delenda Est?
The present communication addresses (by way of a response to Andrei Khrennikov's recent argument), the epistemology of quantum mechanics and Bohr's interpretation of quantum mechanics as complementarity.
In the Copenhagen interpretation the Heisenberg uncertainty relation is interpreted as the mathematical expression of the concept of complementarity, quantifying the mutual disturbance necessarily taking place in a simultaneous or joint…
Extensions of the Kochen-Specker theorem use quantum logics whose classical interpretation suggests a true-implies-value indefiniteness property. This can be interpreted as an indication that any view of a quantum state beyond a single…
Paul A. M. Dirac has been undoubtedly one of the central figures of the last century physics, contributing in several and remarkable ways to the development of Quantum Mechanics (QM); he was also at the centre of an active community of…
Why does such a successful theory like Quantum Mechanics have so many mysteries? The history of this theory is replete with dubious interpretations and controversies, and yet a knowledge of its predictions, however, contributed to the…
By slight modifying of the delayed-choice experiment, it is argued that the quantum wave function must be interpreted as real physical entity; With this interpretation in mind, multiple least action paths due to uncertainty leads us to new…
This review, intended for a popular audience, was originally published in the online magazine Aeon on 28 January 2014. It is reproduced on the arxiv with permission. The online version (without references) can be found at…
Quantum mechanics is more than the derivation of straightforward theorems about vector spaces, Hilbert spaces and functional analysis. In order to be applicable to experiment and technology, those theorems need interpretation and meaning.…
Our notions of what is physically 'real' have long been based on the idea that the real is what is immediately apprehended, that is the local or observable, the physically tangible, though there has always been an alternative philosophical…
I list several strong requirements for what I would consider a sensible interpretation of quantum mechanics and I discuss two simple theorems. One, as far as I know, is new; the other was only noted a few years ago. Both have important…
This is an essay-review on a recently re-issued book of John Bell "Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics". The discussion concentrates around the Bell Theorem, its assumptions, consequences and frequent overinterpretations.
Richard Feynman famously said that nobody understands quantum mechanics and cautioned against asking: "But how can it be like that?" Something about the conceptual foundations of the theory is profoundly puzzling, but just what is so…
A realist interpretation of quantum mechanics is proposed - Contextual Quantum Realism (CQR) - according to which there exists a categorical distinction between the ideal (theory, observation instrument) and the real (quantum physical…
After about a century since the first attempts by Bohr, the interpretation of quantum theory is still a field with many open questions. In this article a new interpretation of quantum theory is suggested, motivated by philosophical…
We introduce a new and conceptually simple interpretation of quantum mechanics based on reduced density matrices of sub-systems from which the standard Copenhagen interpretation emerges as an effective description of macroscopically large…
This is an essay review of the book by D. Home: "Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Physics: An Overview from Modern Perspectives" (New York: Plenum Press, 1997), xvii+386 pp., ISBN 0-306-45660-5.
It is argued that the conclusions obtained by Renninger (Zeitschrift fur Physik 136, 251 (1953)), by means of an interferometer thought experiment, have important implications for a number of still ongoing discussions about quantum…
The implications of the physical theory of quantum mechanics on the question of realism is much a subject of sustaining interest, while the background questions among physicists on how to think about all the theoretical notion and…
A thought experiment, proposed by Karl Popper, which has been experimentally realized recently, is critically examined. A basic flaw in Popper's argument which has also been prevailing in subsequent debates, is pointed out. It is shown that…
This pseudo-paper consists of excerpts drawn from two of my quantum-email samizdats. Section 1 draws a picture of a physical world whose essence is ``Darwinism all the way down.'' Section 2 outlines how quantum theory should be viewed in…