.We expound an alternative to the Copenhagen interpretation of the formalism of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. The basic difference is that the new interpretation is formulated in the language of epistemological realism. The ψ function is no longer interpreted as a probability amplitude of the observed behaviour of elementary particles but as an objective physical field representing the particles themselves. The particles are thus extended objects whose extension varies in time according to the variation of ψ. They are considered as fundamental regions of space with some kind of nonlocality. There is no wave-particle duality. The point-particle-like behaviour is explained by spatial contraction in a deterministic reduction process.
I purport to show why old and new claims on the role of counterfactual reasoning for the EPR argument and the Bell theorem are unjustified: once the logical relation between locality and counterfactual reasoning is clarified, the use of the latter does no harm and the nonlocality result can well follow from the EPR premises. To show why, I critically review (i) incompleteness arguments that Einstein developed before the EPR paper, and (ii) more recent claims that equate the use of counterfactual reasoning with the assumption of a strong form of realism.
Quantum mechanics is strictly incompatible with local realism. It has been shown by Bell and others that it is possible, in principle, to experimentally differentiate between local realism and quantum mechanics. Numerous experiments have attempted to falsify local realism; however, they have consistently failed to close the detection loophole under strict locality conditions, thereby allowing local realistic explanations for their observations. In 2015, three experiments took place that tested local realism without the impediments of these significant loopholes. Between these three experiments…
The paper reviews and discusses four ideas scattered in previous papers of the author. First, objective properties of quantum systems are not associated with observables but are defined by preparations. Second, measurable results of classical theories are not sharp. All such results can be obtained as high-entropy limits of quantum mechanics. Third, a careful study of exchange symmetry requires a modification of the theory of measurement. Fourth, screens and detectors are closely associated with state reduction. A new, rather improved understanding of quantum mechanics is achieved without any …
We introduce a new interpretation of quantum mechanics by examining the Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen's (EPR) paradox and Bell's inequality experiments under the assumption that the vacuum has an inhomogeneous texture for energy levels below the Heisenberg time-energy uncertainty relation. In this article, selected results from the most reliable Bell's inequality experiments will be quantitatively analyzed to show that our interpretation of quantum mechanics creates a new loophole in Bell's inequality, and that the past experimental findings do not contradict our new interpretation. Under the v…
`Shallow' and `deep' versions of scientific realism may be distinguished as follows: the shallow realist is satisfied with belief in the existence of the posits of our best scientific theories; by contrast, deep realists claim that realism can be legitimate only if such entities are described in metaphysical terms. We argue that this methodological discussion can be fruitfully applied in Everettian quantum mechanics, specifically on the debate concerning the existence of worlds and the recent dispute between Everettian actualism and quantum modal realism. After presenting what is involved in s…
I argue that quantum mechanics is a realistic theory, but it violates either strong locality (no superluminal influences) or strict causality (diiferent effects cannot follow from the same cause).
We suggest a contextual realist interpretation of relational quantum mechanics. The principal point is a correct understanding of the concept of reality and taking into account the categorical distinction between the ideal and the real. Within our interpretation, consciousness of the observer does not play any metaphysical role. The proposed approach can also be understood as a return to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, corrected within the framework of contextual realism. The contextual realism allows one to get rid of the metaphysical problems encountered by various interp…
A large number of physicists now admit that quantum mechanics is a non local theory. The EPR argument and the many experiments (including recent loop-hole free tests) showing the violation of Bell's inequalities seem to have confirmed convincingly that quantum mechanics cannot be local. Nevertheless, this conclusion can only be drawn inside a standard realist framework assuming an ontic interpretation of the wave function and viewing the collapse of the wave function as a real change in the physical state of the system. We show that this standpoint is not mandatory and that if the collapse is …
A century after the discovery of quantum mechanics, the meaning of quantum mechanics still remains elusive. This is largely due to the puzzling nature of the wave function, the central object in quantum mechanics. If we are realists about quantum mechanics, how should we understand the wave function? What does it represent? What is its physical meaning? Answering these questions would improve our understanding of what it means to be a realist about quantum mechanics. In this survey article, I review and compare several realist interpretations of the wave function. They fall into three categori…
Realism and Ontology in Quantum Mechanics and String Theory
Stockholm University（斯德哥尔摩大学）；Nordita, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University（诺迪塔，皇家理工学院与斯德哥尔摩大学）；Basic Research Community for Physics e.V.（基础物理研究社区协会）
The concept of realism in quantum mechanics means that results of measurement are caused by physical variables, hidden or observable. Local hidden variables were proved unable to explain results of measurements on entangled particles tested far away from one another. Then, some physicists embraced the idea of nonlocal hidden variables. The present article proves that this idea is problematic, that it runs into an impasse vis-à-vis the special relativity.
Disputes on the foundations of Quantum Mechanics often involve the conception of reality, without a clear definition on which aspect of this broad concept of reality one refers. We provide an overview of conceptions of reality in classical physics, in philosophy of science and in Quantum Mechanics and its interpretations and analyse their differences and subtleties. Structural realism as conception in philosophy of science will turn out to be a promising candidate to settle old problems regarding the conception of reality in Quantum Mechanics. We amend the analysis of three main interpretation…
In this paper we investigate the history of relationalism and its present use in some interpretations of quantum mechanics. In the first part of this article we will provide a conceptual analysis of the relation between substantivalism, relationalism and relativism in the history of both physics and philosophy. In the second part, we will address some relational interpretations of quantum mechanics, namely, Bohr's relational approach, the modal interpretation by Kochen, the perspectival modal version by Bene and Dieks and the relational interpretation by Rovelli. We will argue that all these i…
We discuss the epistemological features of the Ghirardi, Rimini and Weber proposal to modify quantum mechanics in order to overcome the objectification problem, that means the transition between the quantum and the classical level of description of natural phenomena. We shall show that the GRW is a realistic theory, but in a way quite different from Einstein realism or other kinds of realism proposed in the past, such as the Many World Interpretation or the Bohmian Mechanics.
The experimentally verified violation of Bell's inequalities apparently implies that at least one of two intuitive beliefs must be false: that effects propagating at infinite velocity do not exist, and that natural phenomena occur independently of being observed. Giving up any one of these two beliefs (usually known together as Local Realism) is controversial. Many theories have been proposed to reconcile the violation of Bell's inequalities with Local Realism, but none has been fully successful. In this paper, it is recalled that any theory aimed to violate Bell's inequalities must start by g…
The debate instigated by the seminal works of Einstein, Podolsky, Rosen, and Bell, put the notions of realism and nonlocality at the core of almost all philosophical and physical discussions underlying the foundations of quantum mechanics. However, while experimental criteria and quantifiers are by now well established for nonlocality, there is no clear quantitative measure for the degree of reality associated with continuous variables such as position and momentum. This work aims at filling this gap. Considering position and momentum as effectively discrete observables, we implement an operat…
