Related papers: On quantum fundamentalism
The measurement problem in quantum mechanics is almost exclusively discussed in situations where gravity is ignored. We discuss some recent developments in our understanding of quantum gravity and argue that they significantly alter the…
Despite the unparalleled accuracy of quantum-theoretical predictions across an enormous range of phenomena, the theory's foundations are still in doubt. The theory deviates radically from classical physics, predicts counterintuitive…
This paper reviews the structure of standard quantum mechanics, introducing the basics of the von Neumann-Dirac axiomatic formulation as well as the well-known Copenhagen interpretation. We review also the major conceptual difficulties…
Starting from a new principle inspired by quantum tomography rather than from Born's rule, this paper gives a self-contained deductive approach to quantum mechanics and quantum measurement. A suggestive notion for what constitutes a quantum…
Experimentally observed violations of Bell inequalities rule out local realistic theories. Consequently, the quantum state vector becomes a strong candidate for providing an objective picture of reality. However, such an ontological view of…
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…
Bohr's interpretation of quantum mechanics has been criticized as incoherent and opportunistic, and based on doubtful philosophical premises. If so Bohr's influence, in the pre-war period of 1927-1939, is the harder to explain, and the…
Physics has long lived with a schizophrenia that desires determinism for measured systems while demanding that experimenters decide what to measure on a whim. Intriguingly, such a free will assumption for experimenters has thwarted many…
In this paper, we present a general theory of finite quantum measurements, for which we assume that the state space of the measured system is a finite dimensional Hilbert space and that the possible outcomes of a measurement is a finite set…
The contemporary controversy about the fundamental obscurity in quantum mechanics keeps on the old one about the aim of science, which was between the founders of the quantum theory. The orthodox quantum mechanics could be created only at…
Ontological theories of quantum mechanics provide a realistic description of single systems by means of well-defined quantities conditioning the measurement outcomes. In order to be complete, they should also fulfil the minimal condition of…
After the development of a self-consistent quantum formalism nearly a century ago, there ensued a quest to understand the often counterintuitive predictions of the theory. These endeavors invariably begin with the assumption of the "truth"…
The so-called measurement problem of quantum theory (QT) is still lacking a satisfactory, or at least widely agreed upon, solution. A number of theories, known as interpretations of quantum theory, have been proposed and found differing…
The relational interpretation (or RQM, for Relational Quantum Mechanics) solves the measurement problem by considering an ontology of sparse relative events, or "facts". Facts are realized in interactions between any two physical systems…
We compare different approaches to quantum ontology. In particular, we discuss an interpretation of quantum mechanics that we call objective quantum field theory (OQFT), which involves retrocausal fields. Here, objective implies the…
I distinguish two senses in which one can take a given physical theory to be `complete'. On the first, a complete physical theory is one that, in principle, completely describes physical reality. On the second, a complete physical theory is…
The theories of pre-quantum physics are standardly seen as representing physical systems and their properties. Quantum mechanics in its standard form is a more problematic case: here, interpretational problems have led to doubts about the…
Quantum theory depends on an external classical time, and there ought to exist an equivalent reformulation of the theory which does not depend on such a time. The demand for the existence of such a reformulation suggests that quantum theory…
We explore the possibility of a Bohmian approach to the problem of finding a quantum theory incorporating gravitational phenomena. The major conceptual problems of canonical quantum gravity are the problem of time and the problem of…
A source of much difficulty and confusion in the interpretation of quantum mechanics is a ``naive realism about operators.'' By this we refer to various ways of taking too seriously the notion of operator-as-observable, and in particular to…