The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
Author: Roland Omnès
Publsiher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 567
Release: 2018-06-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780691187433

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The interpretation of quantum mechanics has been controversial since the introduction of quantum theory in the 1920s. Although the Copenhagen interpretation is commonly accepted, its usual formulation suffers from some serious drawbacks. Based mainly on Bohr's concepts, the formulation assumes an independent and essential validity of classical concepts running in parallel with quantum ones, and leaves open the possibility of their ultimate conflict. In this book, Roland Omnès examines a number of recent advances, which, combined, lead to a consistent revision of the Copenhagen interpretation. His aim is to show how this interpretation can fit all present experiments, to weed out unnecessary or questionable assumptions, and to assess the domain of validity where the older statements apply. Drawing on the new contributions, The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics offers a complete and self-contained treatment of interpretation (in nonrelativistic physics) in a manner accessible to both physicists and students. Although some "hard" results are included, the concepts and mathematical developments are maintained at an undergraduate level. This book enables readers to check every step, apply the techniques to new problems, and make sure that no paradox or obscurity can arise in the theory. In the conclusion, the author discusses various philosophical implications pertinent to the study of quantum mechanics.

The Modal Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

The Modal Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
Author: Dennis Dieks,Pieter E. Vermaas
Publsiher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 402
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9789401150842

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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.

Understanding Quantum Mechanics

Understanding Quantum Mechanics
Author: Roland Omnès
Publsiher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2020-12-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780691221922

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Here Roland Omnès offers a clear, up-to-date guide to the conceptual framework of quantum mechanics. In an area that has provoked much philosophical debate, Omnès has achieved high recognition for his Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (Princeton 1994), a book for specialists. Now the author has transformed his own theory into a short and readable text that enables beginning students and experienced physicists, mathematicians, and philosophers to form a comprehensive picture of the field while learning about the most recent advances. This new book presents a more streamlined version of the Copenhagen interpretation, showing its logical consistency and completeness. The problem of measurement is a major area of inquiry, with the author surveying its history from Planck to Heisenberg before describing the consistent-histories interpretation. He draws upon the most recent research on the decoherence effect (related to the modern resolution of the famous Schrödinger's cat problem) and an exact formulation of the correspondence between quantum and particle physics (implying a derivation of classical determinism from quantum probabilism). Interpretation is organized with the help of a universal and sound language using so-called consistent histories. As a language and a method, it can now be shown to be free of ambiguity and it makes interpretation much clearer and closer to common sense.

The Cellular Automaton Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

The Cellular Automaton Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
Author: Gerard 't Hooft
Publsiher: Springer
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2016-09-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9783319412856

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This book presents the deterministic view of quantum mechanics developed by Nobel Laureate Gerard 't Hooft. Dissatisfied with the uncomfortable gaps in the way conventional quantum mechanics meshes with the classical world, 't Hooft has revived the old hidden variable ideas, but now in a much more systematic way than usual. In this, quantum mechanics is viewed as a tool rather than a theory. The author gives examples of models that are classical in essence, but can be analysed by the use of quantum techniques, and argues that even the Standard Model, together with gravitational interactions, might be viewed as a quantum mechanical approach to analysing a system that could be classical at its core. He shows how this approach, even though it is based on hidden variables, can be plausibly reconciled with Bell's theorem, and how the usual objections voiced against the idea of ‘superdeterminism' can be overcome, at least in principle. This framework elegantly explains - and automatically cures - the problems of the wave function collapse and the measurement problem. Even the existence of an “arrow of time" can perhaps be explained in a more elegant way than usual. As well as reviewing the author’s earlier work in the field, the book also contains many new observations and calculations. It provides stimulating reading for all physicists working on the foundations of quantum theory.

Foundations and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

Foundations and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
Author: Gennaro Auletta,Giorgio Parisi
Publsiher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 1030
Release: 2001
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9810246145

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The aim of this book is twofold: to provide a comprehensive account of the foundations of the theory and to outline a theoretical and philosophical interpretation suggested from the results of the last twenty years.There is a need to provide an account of the foundations of the theory because recent experience has largely confirmed the theory and offered a wealth of new discoveries and possibilities. On the other side, the following results have generated a new basis for discussing the problem of the interpretation: the new developments in measurement theory; the experimental generation of ?Schr”dinger cats?; recent developments which allow, for the first time, the simultaneous measurement of complementary observables; quantum information processing, teleportation and computation.To accomplish this task, the book combines historical, systematic and thematic approaches.

The Transactional Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

The Transactional Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
Author: Ruth E. Kastner
Publsiher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2022-04-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9781108830447

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Provides a comprehensive exposition of the transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics and its compatibility with relativity.

Interpreting Quantum Theories

Interpreting Quantum Theories
Author: Laura Ruetsche
Publsiher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2011-06-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780191617379

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Traditionally, philosophers of quantum mechanics have addressed exceedingly simple systems: a pair of electrons in an entangled state, or an atom and a cat in Dr. Schrödinger's diabolical device. But recently, much more complicated systems, such as quantum fields and the infinite systems at the thermodynamic limit of quantum statistical mechanics, have attracted, and repaid, philosophical attention. Interpreting Quantum Theories has three entangled aims. The first is to guide those familiar with the philosophy of ordinary QM into the philosophy of 'QM infinity', by presenting accessible introductions to relevant technical notions and the foundational questions they frame. The second aim is to develop and defend answers to some of those questions. Does quantum field theory demand or deserve a particle ontology? How (if at all) are different states of broken symmetry different? And what is the proper role of idealizations in working physics? The third aim is to highlight ties between the foundational investigation of QM infinity and philosophy more broadly construed, in particular by using the interpretive problems discussed to motivate new ways to think about the nature of physical possibility and the problem of scientific realism.

Quantum Physics Observed Reality

Quantum Physics   Observed Reality
Author: Hermann Wimmel
Publsiher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 140
Release: 1992
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9810210108

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The interpretation of quantum mechanics in this book is distinguished from other existing interpretations in that it is systematically derived from empirical facts by means of logical considerations as well as methods in the spirit of analytical philosophy, in particular operational semantics. The new interpretation, using a two-model approach overcomes the well-known conceptional problems and paradoxes of ?orthodox? quantum theory. This interdisciplinary book should be of interest to scholars, teachers, and students in the fields of physics and philosophy of science.