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Related papers: Realism and the wave-function

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Here we propose a model of particles and fields based on the mathematical framework of quantum physics. Our model is an interpretation of quantum physics that treats particles and fields as physically real. We analyze four experiments on…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2013-05-28 Eduardo V. Flores

Studying the extent to which realism is compatible with quantum mechanics teaches us something about the quantum mechanical universe, regardless of the validity of such realistic assumptions. It has also recently been appreciated that these…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2007-09-28 Nicholas Harrigan , Terry Rudolph

Quantum mechanics is a fundamentally probabilistic theory (at least so far as the empirical predictions are concerned). It follows that, if one wants to properly understand quantum mechanics, it is essential to clearly understand the…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2009-11-10 D. M. Appleby

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

Relativistic quantum mechanics can be considered to have begun with a search for wave equations corresponding to each intrinsic spin. However, relativistic quantum physics differs fundamentally from the non-relativistic wave mechanics. It…

History and Philosophy of Physics · Physics 2026-03-09 Urjit A. Yajnik

Following the spirit of de Broglie and Einstein, we think the concepts of matter and radiation can be unified. We know a particle propagates like a wave; its motion is described by certain wave equations. At this point, it is not clear what…

General Physics · Physics 2017-03-14 Donald C. Chang

The fundamental physical theories that interpret and explain behaviour of matter in nature are dependent on several unobservables and insensibles in their construction. While a rigorous natural philosophy cannot take them for granted, there…

History and Philosophy of Physics · Physics 2020-01-29 C. S. Unnikrishnan

Realism about quantum theory naturally leads to realism about the quantum state of the universe. It leaves open whether it is a pure state represented by a wave function, or an impure (mixed) one represented by a density matrix. I…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2024-11-05 Eddy Keming Chen

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…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2021-10-04 Carlo Rovelli

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.…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2015-08-07 Adam Bednorz

Is the wave function a physical reality traveling through our apparatus? Is it a real wave, or it is only a mathematical tool for calculating probabilities of results of measurements? Different interpretations of the quantum mechanics (QM)…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2022-10-10 Sofia Wechsler

The most puzzling issue in the foundations of quantum mechanics is perhaps that of the status of the wave function of a system in a quantum universe. Is the wave function objective or subjective? Does it represent the physical state of the…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2011-01-25 Sheldon Goldstein , Nino Zanghì

In this paper we discuss the representational realist stance as a pluralist ontic approach to inter-theoretic relationships. Our stance stresses the fact that physical theories require the necessary consideration of a conceptual level of…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2017-09-19 Christian de Ronde

Stapp and others have proposed that reality involves a fundamental life process, or creative process. It is shown how this process description may be unified with the description that derives from quantum physics. The methods of the quantum…

General Physics · Physics 2016-10-31 Michael Conrad , D. Home , Brian Josephson

Contrary to classical physics, which was strongly objective i.e. could be interpreted as a description of mind-independent reality, standard quantum mechanics (SQM) is only weakly objective, that is to say, its statements, though…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2015-05-27 Bernard d'Espagnat

QBism is one of the main candidates for an epistemic interpretation of quantum mechanics. According to QBism, the quantum state or the wavefunction represents the subjective degrees of belief of the agent assigning the state. But, although…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2022-10-27 Ali Barzegar

At present, quantum theory leaves unsettled which quantities ontologically, physically exist in a quantum system. Do observables such as energy and position have meaningful values only at the precise moment of measurement, as in the…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2018-11-26 Brendan Marsh

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…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-12-03 Michael E. Cuffaro

The possibility of a quantum system to exhibit properties that are akin to both the classically held notions of being a particle and a wave, is one of the most intriguing aspects of the quantum description of nature. These aspects have been…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-01-23 Sreetama Das , Indranil Chakrabarty , Arun Kumar Pati , Aditi Sen De , Ujjwal Sen

Historically, appearance of the quantum theory led to a prevailing view that Nature is indeterministic. The arguments for the indeterminism and proposals for indeterministic and deterministic approaches are reviewed. These include collapse…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2014-07-08 Lev Vaidman