Related papers: Structure behind Mechanics
One of the key ways in which quantum mechanics differs from relativity is that it requires a fixed background reference frame for spacetime. In fact, this appears to be one of the main conceptual obstacles to uniting the two theories.…
Our notions of what is physically 'real' have long been based on the idea that the real is what is immediately apprehended, that is the local or observable, the physically tangible, though there has always been an alternative philosophical…
Frauchiger and Renner recently cast doubt on the universal applicability of Quantum Mechanics [1]. In the following, it is pointed out that their conclusion of one of three common-sense conditions, demanded for Quantum Mechanics, being…
Although classical mechanics and quantum mechanics are separate disciplines, we live in a world where Planck's constant \hbar>0, meaning that the classical and quantum world views must actually {\it coexist}. Traditionally, canonical…
The problem of understanding quantum mechanics is in large measure the problem of finding appropriate ways of thinking about the spatial and temporal aspects of the physical world. The standard, substantival, set-theoretic conception of…
The gap between classical mechanics and quantum mechanics has an important interpretive implication: the Universe must have an irreducible fundamental level, which determines the properties of matter at higher levels of organization. We…
We bring together two topics (quantum mechanics and time passage) with the goal of clarifying questions about each. Specifically, we claim that the formalism of quantum mechanics provides an answer to the question: "What is time passage?".
The idea that events obey a definite causal order is deeply rooted in our understanding of the world and at the basis of the very notion of time. But where does causal order come from, and is it a necessary property of nature? We address…
Classical physics is generally regarded as deterministic, as opposed to quantum mechanics that is considered the first theory to have introduced genuine indeterminism into physics. We challenge this view by arguing that the alleged…
This paper is a programmatic article presenting an outline of a new view of the foundations of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. In short, the proposed foundations are given by the following statements: * Coherent quantum physics…
The correspondence principle states that classical mechanics emerges from quantum mechanics in the appropriate limits. However, beyond this heuristic rule, an information-theoretic perspective reveals that classical mechanics is a…
The quantum formalism is a ``measurement'' formalism--a phenomenological formalism describing certain macroscopic regularities. We argue that it can be regarded, and best be understood, as arising from Bohmian mechanics, which is what…
The discussion of the foundations of quantum mechanics is complicated by the fact that a number of different issues are closely entangled. Three of these issues are i) the interpretation of probability, ii) the choice between realist and…
It was recently suggested that causal structures are both dynamical, because of general relativity, and indefinite, due to quantum theory. The process matrix formalism furnishes a framework for quantum mechanics on indefinite causal…
Quantum theory's irreducible empirical core is a probability calculus. While it presupposes the events to which (and on the basis of which) it serves to assign probabilities, and therefore cannot account for their occurrence, it has to be…
It is argued that a realistic interpretation of quantum mechanics is possible and useful. Current interpretations, from Copenhagen to many worlds are critically revisited. The difficulties for intuitive models of quantum physics are pointed…
Scholars have wondered for a long time whether the language of quantum mechanics introduces a quantum notion of truth which is formalized by quantum logic (QL) and is incompatible with the classical (Tarskian) notion. We show that QL can be…
The underlying physics of quantum mechanics has been discussed for decades without an agreed resolution to many questions. The measurement problem, wave function collapse and entangled states are mired in complexity and the difficulty of…
t is well known that the difference between Quantum Mechanics and Classical Theory appears most crucially in the non Classical spin half of the former theory and the Wilson-Sommerfelt quantization rule. We argue that this is symptomatic of…
Quantum mechanics is very odd. It presents both an immensely practical and a deeply troubling conception of the physical world. As such, its uses stretch from optimizing nanoelectronics to examining the very nature of reality. In this…