Related papers: Modal Interpretations and Relativity
In a recent article, Dieks has proposed a way to implement the modal interpretation of (nonrelativistic) quantum theory in relativistic quantum field theory. We show that his proposal fails to yield a well-defined prescription for which…
Modal interpretations have the ambition to construe quantum mechanics as an objective, man-independent description of physical reality. Their second leading idea is probabilism: quantum mechanics does not completely fix physical reality but…
Conventional relativistic quantum mechanics, based on the Klein-Gordon equation, does not possess a natural probabilistic interpretation in configuration space. The Bohmian interpretation, in which probabilities play a secondary role,…
The relational version of the modal interpretation offers both a consistent quantum ontology and solution for quantum paradoxes within the framework of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. In the present paper this approach is generalized for…
We analyze a class of modal logics rendered insensitive to reflexivity by way of a modification to the semantic definition of the modal operator. We explore the extent to which these logics can be characterized, and prove a general…
Quantum Mechanics lacks an intuitive interpretation, which is the cause of a generally formalistic approach to its use. This in turn has led to a certain insensitivity to the actual meaning of many words used in its description and…
This chapter, from the Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Physics (Eleanor Knox and Alastair Wilson, eds., 2021), is an overview of the constraints that relativity places on interpretations of quantum theory. It focuses on four main…
We apply the machinery of projection lattices and von Neumann algebras to analyze the question of how modal interpretations can (and do) circumvent von Neumann's infamous 'no-hidden-variables' theorem.
This paper builds on no-go theorems to the effect that quantum theory is inconsistent with observations being absolute; that is, unique and non-relative. Unlike the existing no-go results, the one introduced here is based on a…
This paper addresses the question whether a variant of a modal interpretation is conceivable that could accommodate property ascriptions associated with nonorthogonal resolutions of the unity and nonorthogonal families of relative states as…
In the special theory of relativity, Lorentz invariance is extended in Minkowski spacetime from ideal inertial observers to actual observers by means of the hypothesis of locality, which postulates that accelerated observers are always…
The interpretation of quantum mechanics has been a problem since its founding days. A large contribution to the discussion of possible interpretations of quantum mechanics is given by the so-called impossibility proofs for hidden variable…
We propose a new interpretation of doubly special relativity based on the distinction between the momenta and the translation generators in its phase space realization. We also argue that the implementation of the theory does not…
It is shown that the joint measurements of some physical variables corresponding to commuting operators performed on pre- and post-selected quantum systems invariably disturb each other. The significance of this result for recent proofs of…
The purpose of this paper is to explain clearly why nonlocality must be an essential part of the theory of relativity. In the standard local version of this theory, Lorentz invariance is extended to accelerated observers by assuming that…
The best mathematical arguments against a realistic interpretation of quantum mechanics - that gives definite but partially unknown values to all observables - are analysed and shown to be based on reasoning that is not compelling. This…
During many years since the birth of quantum mechanics, instrumentalist interpretations prevailed: the meaning of the theory was expressed in terms of measurements results. But in the last decades, several attempts to interpret it from a…
A derivation of the Bohm model, and some general comments about it, are given. A modification of the model which is formally local and Lorentz-invariant is introduced, and its properties studied for a simple experiment.
The idea that quantum gravity manifestations would be associated with a violation of Lorentz invariance is very strongly bounded and faces serious theoretical challenges. Other related ideas seem to be drowning in interpretational…
While general relativity possesses local Lorentz invariance, both canonical quantum gravity and string theory suggest that Lorentz invariance may be broken at high energies. Broken Lorentz invariance has also been postulated as an…