Related papers: Natural Philosophy and Quantum Theory

Reichenbach's principle asserts that if two observed variables are found to be correlated, then there should be a causal explanation of these correlations. Furthermore, if the explanation is in terms of a common cause, then the conditional…

The relationships between game theory and quantum mechanics let us propose certain quantization relationships through which we could describe and understand not only quantum but also classical, evolutionary and the biological systems that…

There is a direct correspondence between two-particle, entangled quantum states, for example, Bell states, and the relative values of the component one-particle states. This leads to a new rationale for quantum computing which makes use of…

It is suspected that the quantum evolution equations describing the micro-world as we know it are of a special kind that allows transformations to a special set of basis states in Hilbert space, such that, in this basis, the evolution is…

It is argued that the usual postulates of quantum mechanics are too strong. It is conjectured that it is possible to interpret all experiments if we maintain the formalism of quantum theory without modification, but weaken the postulates…

Bell's theorem is a fundamental theorem in physics concerning the incompatibility between some correlations predicted by quantum theory and a large class of physical theories. In this paper, we introduce the hypothesis of accountability,…

To explain aspects of the quantum-to-classical transition, quantum Darwinism explores the fact that, due to interactions between a quantum open system and its surrounding environment, information about the system can be spread redundantly…

Within quantum theory, we can create superpositions of different causal orders of events, and observe interference between them. This raises the question of whether quantum theory can produce results that would be impossible to replicate…

We give a counter example to show that determinism as such is in contradiction to quantum mechanics. More precisely, we consider a simple quantum system and its environment, including the measurement device, and make the assumption that the…

It is difficult to extract reliable criteria for causal locality from the limited ingredients found in textbook quantum theory. In the end, Bell humbly warned that his eponymous theorem was based on criteria that "should be viewed with the…

The research in quantum gravity has jauntily grown in the recent years, intersecting with conceptual and philosophical issues that have a long history. In this paper I analyze the conceptual basis on which Loop Quantum Gravity has grown,…

Does "epistemic non-signalling" ensure the peaceful coexistence of special relativity and quantum nonlocality? The possibility of an affirmative answer is of great importance to deterministic approaches to quantum mechanics given recent…

Bell inequalities, understood as constraints between classical conditional probabilities, can be derived from a set of assumptions representing a common causal explanation of classical correlations. A similar derivation, however, is not…

The transition from quantum to classical behavior is a central question in modern physics. How can we rationalize everyday classical observations from an inherently quantum world? For instance, what makes two people, each absorbing an…

By assuming a deterministic evolution of quantum systems and taking realism into account, we carefully build a hidden variable theory for Quantum Mechanics based on the notion of ontological states proposed by 't Hooft. We view these…

The job of a physicist is to describe Nature. General features, hypotheses and theories help to describe physics phenomena at a more abstract, fundamental level, and are sometimes tacitly assigned some sort of real existence; doing so…

We address Gillis' recent criticism [arXiv:1506.05795] of a series of papers (by different combinations of the present authors) on formulations of Bell's theorem. Those papers intended to address an unfortunate gap of communication between…

Counterfactual definiteness must be used as at least one of the postulates or axioms that are necessary to derive Bell-type inequalities. It is considered by many to be a postulate that is not only commensurate with classical physics (as…

Analogical reasoning is an essential aspect of human cognition. In this paper, we summarize key theory about the processes underlying analogical reasoning from the cognitive science literature and relate it to current research in natural…

Quantum Darwinism offers an explanation for the emergence of classical objective features -- those we are used to at macroscopic scales -- from quantum properties at the microscopic level. The interaction of a quantum system with its…