Related papers: The view from a Wigner bubble
Fundamental principle of classical physics -- local realism, means that freely chosen observations can be explained by a local (slower than light) real process. It is apparently violated in quantum mechanics as shown by Bell theorem.…
Recently there have emerged an assortment of theorems relating to the 'absoluteness of emerged events,' and these results have sometimes been used to argue that quantum mechanics may involve some kind of metaphysically radical…
In this paper, I attempt a personal account of my understanding of the measurement problem in quantum mechanics, which has been largely in the tradition of the Copenhagen interpretation. I assume that (i) the quantum state is a…
In the last five years of his life Itamar Pitowsky developed the idea that the formal structure of quantum theory should be thought of as a Bayesian probability theory adapted to the empirical situation that Nature's events just so happen…
Applications of quantum mechanics have led to many successful predictions and explanations of puzzling phenomena, and we now apply quantum mechanics to gain, process, and communicate information in novel ways. We can understand quantum…
Recent experiments (gedanken or otherwise) and theorems in quantum mechanics (QM), such as new iterations on Wigner's friend and delayed choice, have led many people to claim that QM is not compatible with determinate and intersubjectively…
I correct two misapprehensions, one historical and one conceptual, in the recent literature on extensions of the Wigner's Friend thought-experiment. Perhaps fittingly, both concern the accurate description of some quantum physicists'…
A realist view of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-Bohm experiment with spins based on quantum theory is presented. This view implies that there is no action at a distance. It also implies that the measurement result A (B) for particle 1 (2)…
I revisit the Wigner (or Weyl-Wigner, WW) representation of the quantum electromagnetic field. I show that, assuming that Fock states are just mathematical concepts devoid of physical reality, WW suggests a realistic interpretation which…
The Quantum-Bayesian interpretation of quantum theory claims to eliminate the question of quantum nonlocality. This claim is not justified, because the question of non-locality does not arise due to any interpretation of quantum theory, but…
In the area of the foundations of quantum mechanics a true industry appears to have developed in the last decades, with the aim of proving as many results as possible concerning what there cannot be in the quantum realm. In principle, the…
Paul Busch has emphasized on various occasions the importance for physics of going beyond a merely instrumentalist view of quantum mechanics. Even if we cannot be sure that any particular realist interpretation describes the world as it…
Wigner's Friend scenarios push the boundaries of quantum theory by modeling agents, along with their memories storing measurement outcomes, as physical quantum systems. Extending these ideas beyond quantum theory, we ask: in which physical…
I show how the quantum paradoxes occurring when we adopt a standard realist framework (or a framework in which the collapse implies a physical change of the state of the system) vanish if we abandon the idea that a measurement is related…
The original Wigner's friend paradox is a gedankenexperiment involving an observer described by an external agent. The paradox highlights the tension between unitary evolution and collapse in quantum theory, and is sometimes taken as…
The Wigner's friend paradox concerns one of the most puzzling problems of quantum mechanics: the consistent description of multiple nested observers. Recently, a variation of Wigner's gedankenexperiment, introduced by Frauchiger and Renner,…
Quantum theory does not only predict probabilities, but also relative phases for any experiment, that involves measurements of an ensemble of systems at different moments of time. We argue, that any operational formulation of quantum theory…
Relational quantum mechanics (RQM) proposes an ontology of relations between physical systems, where any system can serve as an `observer' and any physical interaction between systems counts as a `measurement'. Quantities take unique values…
Predictions of quantum theory have been confirmed experimentally in the microscopic domain with no known exceptions. This success motivates physicists to assume universal validity of the theory. To put the predictions of the quantum theory…
A theory of everything should not only tell us the laws for matter, gravity, and possibly boundary condition for the universe. In addition, it should specify the relation between theory and experience. Here I argue for a minimal…