Quantum Causality: Conceptual Issues in the Causal Theory of Quantum Mechanics (Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 23) - Softcover

Riggs, Peter J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9048184975 ISBN 13: 9789048184972

Publisher: Springer, 2010

Synopsis

There is no sharp dividing line between the foundations of physics and philosophy of physics. This is especially true for quantum mechanics. The debate on the interpretation of quantum mechanics has raged in both the scientific and philosophical communities since the 1920s and continues to this day. (We shall understand the unqualified term ‘quantum mechanics’ to mean the mathematical formalism, i. e. laws and rules by which empirical predictions and theoretical advances are made. ) There is a popular rendering of quantum mechanics which has been publicly endorsed by some well known physicists which says that quantum mechanics is not only 1 more weird than we imagine but is weirder than we can imagine. Although it is readily granted that quantum mechanics has produced some strange and counter-intuitive results, the case will be presented in this book that quantum mechanics is not as weird as we might have been led to believe! The prevailing theory of quantum mechanics is called Orthodox Quantum Theory (also known as the Copenhagen Interpretation). Orthodox Quantum Theory endows a special status on measurement processes by requiring an intervention of an observer or an observer’s proxy (e. g. a measuring apparatus). The placement of the observer (or proxy) is somewhat arbitrary which introduces a degree of subjectivity. Orthodox Quantum Theory only predicts probabilities for measured values of physical quantities. It is essentially an instrumental theory, i. e.

About this title

From the Back Cover

This is a treatise devoted to the foundations of quantum physics and the role that causality plays in the microscopic world governed by the laws of quantum mechanics. There is no sharp dividing line between physics and philosophy of physics. This is especially true for quantum physics where debate on its interpretation and the status of the various entities postulated has raged in both the scientific and philosophical communities since the 1920s and continues to this day. Although it is readily granted that quantum mechanics produces some strange and counter-intuitive results, it is argued in Quantum Causality that quantum mechanics is not as weird as we might have been led to believe.

The dominant theory of quantum mechanics is called Orthodox Quantum Theory (also known as the Copenhagen Interpretation). Orthodox Quantum Theory is a ‘theoretical tool’ for making predictions for the possible results of experiments on quantum systems and requires the intervention of an observer or an observer’s proxy (e.g. a measuring apparatus) in order to produce predictions. Orthodox Quantum Theory does away with the notion of causality and denies the existence of an underlying quantum realm.

The Causal Theory is not well known within the physics community and many physicists who do know of it are generally dismissive in their attitudes. This is a historical legacy inherited by the majority of the physics community from the most influential founders of quantum mechanics, Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. They both denied the independent existence of a quantum level of reality and declared that causality does not apply to quantum events.

Quantum Causality shows that the Causal Theory of Quantum Mechanics is a viable physical theory that provides realistic explanations for quantum phenomena. Much of what is argued for in this book will be controversial but, at the very least, these arguments will likely engender some lively debate on the various issuesraised.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9048184975
• ISBN 13: 9789048184972
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 242