Quantum Mechanics Versus Local Realism

Quantum Mechanics Versus Local Realism PDF

Author: F. Selleri

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-06-29

Total Pages: 470

ISBN-13: 1468487744

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If you have two small objects, one here on Earth and the other on the planet Pluto, what would you say of the following statement: No modification of the properties of the object on the earth can take place as a consequence of an interaction of the distant object with a third body also located on Pluto? The opinion that the previous statement is correct is very natural, but modern quantum theory implies that it must be wrong in certain cases. Consider in fact two arbitrary objects separated by such a large distance that they are unable to exert any important mutual influence. It is possible to show rigorously that a measurable physical quantity exists, with a value more than 40% different from the value theoretically predicted by quantum mechanics. Necessarily then, either space is largely an illusion of our senses and it does not exist objectively, or information can be sent from the future to the past, or ... something important has to be changed in modern physics. This is the essence of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox. A paradox is an argument that derives absurd conclusions by valid deduction from acceptable premises. In the case of the EPR paradox the absurd conclusion is that Bell's observable d should have two different values d = 2.Ji and The "acceptable premises" are the following: 1. All the empirical predictions of the existing quantum theory are correct.

Quantum Nonlocality and Reality

Quantum Nonlocality and Reality PDF

Author: Mary Bell

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2016-09-19

Total Pages: 459

ISBN-13: 1316692418

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Combining twenty-six original essays written by an impressive line-up of distinguished physicists and philosophers of physics, this anthology reflects some of the latest thoughts by leading experts on the influence of Bell's theorem on quantum physics. Essays progress from John Bell's character and background, through studies of his main work, and on to more speculative ideas, addressing the controversies surrounding the theorem, and investigating the theorem's meaning and its deep implications for the nature of physical reality. Combined, they present a powerful comment on the undeniable significance of Bell's theorem for the development of ideas in quantum physics over the past 50 years. Questions surrounding the assumptions and significance of Bell's work still inspire discussion in the field of quantum physics. Adding to this with a theoretical and philosophical perspective, this balanced anthology is an indispensable volume for students and researchers interested in the philosophy of physics and the foundations of quantum mechanics.

Understanding Our Unseen Reality: Solving Quantum Riddles

Understanding Our Unseen Reality: Solving Quantum Riddles PDF

Author: Ruth E Kastner

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2015-02-26

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1783266481

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This captivating book presents a new, unified picture of the everyday world around us. It provides rational, scientific support for the idea that there may well be more to our reality than meets the eye…Accessible and engaging for readers with no prior knowledge of quantum physics, author Ruth Kastner draws on the popular transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics to explain our ‘quantum reality.’ Her book focuses on modern-day examples and deals with big philosophical questions as well as ideas from physics.If you have any interest in quantum physics, this book is for you — whether you be a physics student or academic, or simply an inquisitive reader who wants to delve deeper into the reality of the world around you. Dr Ruth Kastner has received two National Science Foundation awards for the study of interpretational issues in quantum theory.

Quantum Mechanics and Fundamentality

Quantum Mechanics and Fundamentality PDF

Author: Valia Allori

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-07-27

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 3030996425

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This edited collection provides new perspectives on some metaphysical questions arising in quantum mechanics. These questions have been long-standing and are of continued interest to researchers and graduate students working in physics, philosophy of physics, and metaphysics. It features contributions from a diverse set of researchers, ranging from senior scholars to junior academics, working in varied fields, from physics to philosophy of physics and metaphysics. The contributors reflect on issues about fundamentality (is quantum theory fundamental? If so, what is its fundamental ontology?), ontological dependence (how do ordinary objects exist even if they are not fundamental?), realism (what kind of realism is compatible with quantum theory?), indeterminacy (can the world itself exhibit ontological indeterminacy?). The book contains contributions from both physicists (including Nobel Prize winner Gerard 't Hooft), science communicators and philosophers.

Quantum Arrangements

Quantum Arrangements PDF

Author: Gregg Jaeger

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-10-09

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 3030773671

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This book presents a collection of novel contributions and reviews by renowned researchers in the foundations of quantum physics, quantum optics, and neutron physics. It is published in honor of Michael Horne, whose exceptionally clear and groundbreaking work in the foundations of quantum mechanics and interferometry, both of photons and of neutrons, has provided penetrating insight into the implications of modern physics for our understanding of the physical world. He is perhaps best known for the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality. This collection includes an oral history of Michael Horne's contributions to the foundations of physics and his connections to other eminent figures in the history of the subject, among them Clifford Shull and Abner Shimony.

Boojums All the Way Through

Boojums All the Way Through PDF

Author: N. David Mermin

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1990-03-15

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 9780521388801

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Boojums All the Way Through is a collection of essays that deals in a variety of ways with the problem of communicating modern physics to both physicists and non-physicists. The author is Professor David Mermin, a well-known theoretical physicist, who recently won the first Julius Edgar Lileinfeld prize of the American Physical Society 'for his remarkable clarity and wit as a lecturer to nonspecialists on difficult subjects'. David Mermin's wry humour is clearly apparent in most of these articles, but even those that are more serious are characterized by a liveliness and commitment to finding startlingly simple ways of presenting ideas that are traditionally regarded as complex. This book will appeal to physicists at all levels, to mathematicians, scientists and engineers, and indeed to anyone who enjoys reading non-technical accounts of new ways of looking at modern science.

The Wave Function

The Wave Function PDF

Author: Alyssa Ney

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2013-04-08

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0190240725

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This is a new volume of original essays on the metaphysics of quantum mechanics. The essays address questions such as: What fundamental metaphysics is best motivated by quantum mechanics? What is the ontological status of the wave function? Does quantum mechanics support the existence of any other fundamental entities, e.g. particles? What is the nature of the fundamental space (or space-time manifold) of quantum mechanics? What is the relationship between the fundamental ontology of quantum mechanics and ordinary, macroscopic objects like tables, chairs, and persons? This collection includes a comprehensive introduction with a history of quantum mechanics and the debate over its metaphysical interpretation focusing especially on the main realist alternatives.

Non-locality and Possible World

Non-locality and Possible World PDF

Author: Tomasz F. Bigaj

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2013-05-02

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 3110323303

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This book uses the formal semantics of counterfactual conditionals to analyze the problem of non-locality in quantum mechanics. Counterfactual conditionals (subjunctive conditionals) enter the analysis of quantum entangled systems in that they enable us to precisely formulate the locality condition that purports to exclude the existence of causal interactions between spatially separated parts of a system. They also make it possible to speak consistently about alternative measuring settings, and to explicate what is meant by quantum property attributions. The book develops the possible-world semantics of quantum counterfactuals using David Lewis’s famous approach as a starting point but modifying it significantly in order to achieve compatibility with the demands of the special theory of relativity as well as quantum mechanics. There have been several attempts to use counterfactual semantics to strengthen Bell’s theorem and its cognates such as the GHZ and Hardy theorems. These are critically evaluated in the book. Finally, a counterfactual reconstruction of the EPR argument and Bell’s theorem is proposed that sheds a new light on their philosophical consequences regarding the relations between realism and local causation.