The Modal Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

According to the modal interpretation, the standard mathematical framework of quantum mechanics specifies the physical magnitudes of a system, which have definite values. Probabilities are assigned to the possible values that these magnitudes may adopt. The interpretation is thus concerned with physical properties rather than with measurement results: it is a realistic interpretation (in the sense of scientific realism). One of the notable achievements of this interpretation is that it dissolves the notorious measurement problem.
The papers collected here, together with the introduction and concluding critical appraisal, explain the various forms of the modal interpretation, survey its achievements, and discuss those problems that have yet to be solved.
Audience: Philosophers of science, theoretical physicists, and graduate students in these disciplines.

The term modal interpretation is ambiguous. It is a proper name that refers to a number of particular interpretations of quantum mechanics. And it is a term that singles out a class of conceptually similar interpretations, which includes proposals that are not generally referred to as modal ones. This ambiguity was already present when Bas C. van Fraassen coined the term in the 1970s by transposing the semantic analysis of modal logics to quantum logic....