Craig Callender
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198814979
- eISBN:
- 9780191852817
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198814979.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
In the science fiction novel Quarantine, Greg Egan imagines a universe where interactions with human observers collapse quantum wavefunctions. Aliens, unable to collapse wavefunctions, tire of being ...
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In the science fiction novel Quarantine, Greg Egan imagines a universe where interactions with human observers collapse quantum wavefunctions. Aliens, unable to collapse wavefunctions, tire of being slaughtered by these collapses. In response they erect an impenetrable shield around the solar system, protecting the rest of the universe from human interference and locking humanity into a starless Bubble. When confronting scientific realism and the quantum, many philosophers try to do the theoretical counterpart of this fictional practical strategy. Quantum mechanics is beset with many hard-to-resolve interpretational challenges. Philosophers—appealing to decoherence and coarse-graining—try to put these in a Bubble and hope that they can go about their philosophizing as before. Chapter 4 aims to burst this Bubble, and then explores ways of eliminating quantum underdetermination, showing that such attempts lead to philosophical gridlock.Less
In the science fiction novel Quarantine, Greg Egan imagines a universe where interactions with human observers collapse quantum wavefunctions. Aliens, unable to collapse wavefunctions, tire of being slaughtered by these collapses. In response they erect an impenetrable shield around the solar system, protecting the rest of the universe from human interference and locking humanity into a starless Bubble. When confronting scientific realism and the quantum, many philosophers try to do the theoretical counterpart of this fictional practical strategy. Quantum mechanics is beset with many hard-to-resolve interpretational challenges. Philosophers—appealing to decoherence and coarse-graining—try to put these in a Bubble and hope that they can go about their philosophizing as before. Chapter 4 aims to burst this Bubble, and then explores ways of eliminating quantum underdetermination, showing that such attempts lead to philosophical gridlock.
Nicholas Manton and Nicholas Mee
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- July 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198795933
- eISBN:
- 9780191837111
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198795933.003.0016
- Subject:
- Physics, Condensed Matter Physics / Materials
Despite the overwhelming successes of modern physics, there are questions that remain to be answered and these are considered in the final chapter. The interpretation of quantum mechanics is ...
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Despite the overwhelming successes of modern physics, there are questions that remain to be answered and these are considered in the final chapter. The interpretation of quantum mechanics is discussed, including the EPR paradox, the Aspect experiments and quantum entanglement. Next, the question of whether particles are really point-like and the possibility of an alternative description in terms of solitons is considered. The Skyrmion and the Standard Model sphaleron are described. Unexplained features of the universe, such as the matter–antimatter asymmetry, the existence of dark matter and the even more mysterious dark energy, are discussed. There is also a critique of the loose ends of the Standard Model and the need for a quantum theory of gravity. The chapter concludes with a look beyond the Standard Model at the arguments and evidence in favour of Grand Unified Theories and ultimately string theory.Less
Despite the overwhelming successes of modern physics, there are questions that remain to be answered and these are considered in the final chapter. The interpretation of quantum mechanics is discussed, including the EPR paradox, the Aspect experiments and quantum entanglement. Next, the question of whether particles are really point-like and the possibility of an alternative description in terms of solitons is considered. The Skyrmion and the Standard Model sphaleron are described. Unexplained features of the universe, such as the matter–antimatter asymmetry, the existence of dark matter and the even more mysterious dark energy, are discussed. There is also a critique of the loose ends of the Standard Model and the need for a quantum theory of gravity. The chapter concludes with a look beyond the Standard Model at the arguments and evidence in favour of Grand Unified Theories and ultimately string theory.
Alyssa Ney
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198831501
- eISBN:
- 9780191869273
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198831501.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
The purpose of the present chapter is to respond to a thread of recent criticism against one candidate framework for interpreting quantum theories, a framework introduced and defended by David Albert ...
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The purpose of the present chapter is to respond to a thread of recent criticism against one candidate framework for interpreting quantum theories, a framework introduced and defended by David Albert and Barry Loewer: wave function realism, a framework for interpreting the ontology of quantum theories according to which what appears to be a nonseparable metaphysics ofentangled objects acting instantaneously across spatial distances is a manifestation of a more fundamental separable and local metaphysics in higher dimensions. Thechapterconsiders strategies for extending the wave function realist interpretation of quantum mechanics to the case of relativistic quantum theories, responding to arguments that this cannot be done.Less
The purpose of the present chapter is to respond to a thread of recent criticism against one candidate framework for interpreting quantum theories, a framework introduced and defended by David Albert and Barry Loewer: wave function realism, a framework for interpreting the ontology of quantum theories according to which what appears to be a nonseparable metaphysics ofentangled objects acting instantaneously across spatial distances is a manifestation of a more fundamental separable and local metaphysics in higher dimensions. Thechapterconsiders strategies for extending the wave function realist interpretation of quantum mechanics to the case of relativistic quantum theories, responding to arguments that this cannot be done.
Andrew Briggs, Hans Halvorson, and Andrew Steane
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- October 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198808282
- eISBN:
- 9780191866944
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198808282.003.0008
- Subject:
- Physics, History of Physics
The unresolved problem of the physical interpretation of quantum theory is laid out, and comments on existing attempts to solve it are given. The chapter then discusses ways in which the quantum ...
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The unresolved problem of the physical interpretation of quantum theory is laid out, and comments on existing attempts to solve it are given. The chapter then discusses ways in which the quantum picture of physical reality may or may not have something to offer to our understanding of human identity and divine action. It is unknown whether the physical expression of human identity relies on the more subtle features of quantum states. If it does, then it may be physically impossible to make copies of personal beings such as humans, and it may be invalid to invoke a reductionist model of brain function. However, this remains unknown and it is premature to make extensive claims. The same applies to the question of divine action. But quantum physics offers many positive lessons in truth-seeking, technology, humility, living with unanswered questions, and in enlarging our theological imagination.Less
The unresolved problem of the physical interpretation of quantum theory is laid out, and comments on existing attempts to solve it are given. The chapter then discusses ways in which the quantum picture of physical reality may or may not have something to offer to our understanding of human identity and divine action. It is unknown whether the physical expression of human identity relies on the more subtle features of quantum states. If it does, then it may be physically impossible to make copies of personal beings such as humans, and it may be invalid to invoke a reductionist model of brain function. However, this remains unknown and it is premature to make extensive claims. The same applies to the question of divine action. But quantum physics offers many positive lessons in truth-seeking, technology, humility, living with unanswered questions, and in enlarging our theological imagination.
Michael Silberstein, W.M. Stuckey, and Timothy McDevitt
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198807087
- eISBN:
- 9780191844850
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198807087.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Theoretical, Computational, and Statistical Physics, History of Physics
Theoretical physics and foundations of physics have not made much progress in the last few decades. There is no consensus among researchers on how to approach unifying general relativity and quantum ...
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Theoretical physics and foundations of physics have not made much progress in the last few decades. There is no consensus among researchers on how to approach unifying general relativity and quantum field theory (quantum gravity), explaining so-called dark energy and dark matter (cosmology), or the interpretation and implications of quantum mechanics and relativity. In addition, both fields are deeply puzzled about various facets of time including, above all, time as experienced. This book argues that this impasse is the result of the “dynamical universe paradigm,” the idea that reality fundamentally comprises physical entities that evolve in time from some initial state according to dynamical laws. Thus, in the dynamical universe, the initial conditions plus the dynamical laws explain everything else going exclusively forward in time. In cosmology, for example, the initial conditions reside in the Big Bang and the dynamical law is supplied by general relativity. Accordingly, the present state of the universe is explained exclusively by its past. A completely new paradigm (called Relational Blockworld) is offered here whereby the past, present, and future co-determine each other via “adynamical global constraints,” such as the least action principle. Accordingly, the future is just as important for explaining the present as the past is. Most of the book is devoted to showing how Relational Blockworld resolves many of the current conundrums of both theoretical physics and foundations of physics, including the mystery of time as experienced and how that experience relates to the block universe.Less
Theoretical physics and foundations of physics have not made much progress in the last few decades. There is no consensus among researchers on how to approach unifying general relativity and quantum field theory (quantum gravity), explaining so-called dark energy and dark matter (cosmology), or the interpretation and implications of quantum mechanics and relativity. In addition, both fields are deeply puzzled about various facets of time including, above all, time as experienced. This book argues that this impasse is the result of the “dynamical universe paradigm,” the idea that reality fundamentally comprises physical entities that evolve in time from some initial state according to dynamical laws. Thus, in the dynamical universe, the initial conditions plus the dynamical laws explain everything else going exclusively forward in time. In cosmology, for example, the initial conditions reside in the Big Bang and the dynamical law is supplied by general relativity. Accordingly, the present state of the universe is explained exclusively by its past. A completely new paradigm (called Relational Blockworld) is offered here whereby the past, present, and future co-determine each other via “adynamical global constraints,” such as the least action principle. Accordingly, the future is just as important for explaining the present as the past is. Most of the book is devoted to showing how Relational Blockworld resolves many of the current conundrums of both theoretical physics and foundations of physics, including the mystery of time as experienced and how that experience relates to the block universe.
Nikk Effingham
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- April 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198842507
- eISBN:
- 9780191878480
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198842507.003.0015
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
We may think that the lack of time travellers from the future is evidence that time travel is physically impossible. This is the ‘Tourist Paradox’. After the chapter introduces the paradox, and ...
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We may think that the lack of time travellers from the future is evidence that time travel is physically impossible. This is the ‘Tourist Paradox’. After the chapter introduces the paradox, and discusses some of the extant solutions, it argues that the best solution is that—given Ludovicianism—we should never expect there to be time travellers, no matter how high the objective chance of people travelling in time. The chapter argues that the upshot is that we are rationally obligated to avoid conducting any experiment that, even accidentally, brings about time travel. It ends by sketching how that might bear on how we conduct contemporary high-energy experiments.Less
We may think that the lack of time travellers from the future is evidence that time travel is physically impossible. This is the ‘Tourist Paradox’. After the chapter introduces the paradox, and discusses some of the extant solutions, it argues that the best solution is that—given Ludovicianism—we should never expect there to be time travellers, no matter how high the objective chance of people travelling in time. The chapter argues that the upshot is that we are rationally obligated to avoid conducting any experiment that, even accidentally, brings about time travel. It ends by sketching how that might bear on how we conduct contemporary high-energy experiments.