Paull Nunez
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195340716
- eISBN:
- 9780199776269
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195340716.003.0011
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Development
Ontological questions, concerning the nature of reality, continue to be argued in both the scientific and general literature, and new experiments may be proposed to move ontological questions into ...
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Ontological questions, concerning the nature of reality, continue to be argued in both the scientific and general literature, and new experiments may be proposed to move ontological questions into the instrumental category for resolution. This chapter contends that all interpretations of quantum mechanics are weird when considered from classical, everyday viewpoints. Readers holding classical world views should not expect to find intuitively-pleasing explanations of quantum mechanics; scientists much smarter than us have failed in this quest over the past century.Less
Ontological questions, concerning the nature of reality, continue to be argued in both the scientific and general literature, and new experiments may be proposed to move ontological questions into the instrumental category for resolution. This chapter contends that all interpretations of quantum mechanics are weird when considered from classical, everyday viewpoints. Readers holding classical world views should not expect to find intuitively-pleasing explanations of quantum mechanics; scientists much smarter than us have failed in this quest over the past century.
Paull Nunez
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195340716
- eISBN:
- 9780199776269
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195340716.003.0010
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Development
Several prominent scientists have proposed deep connections between quantum mechanics and consciousness. On the other hand, many skeptics view such speculative links as simply vague and unsupported ...
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Several prominent scientists have proposed deep connections between quantum mechanics and consciousness. On the other hand, many skeptics view such speculative links as simply vague and unsupported notions that since both topics are mysterious, perhaps they are somehow related. This chapter suggests that the well-established and widespread experimental verifications of weird quantum effects provide a number of intriguing hints of possible quantum connections to mind, suggesting that the idea be taken seriously if, as proposed here, the hard problem of consciousness lies within scientific purview.Less
Several prominent scientists have proposed deep connections between quantum mechanics and consciousness. On the other hand, many skeptics view such speculative links as simply vague and unsupported notions that since both topics are mysterious, perhaps they are somehow related. This chapter suggests that the well-established and widespread experimental verifications of weird quantum effects provide a number of intriguing hints of possible quantum connections to mind, suggesting that the idea be taken seriously if, as proposed here, the hard problem of consciousness lies within scientific purview.
James Ladyman, Don Ross, David Spurrett, and John Collier
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199276196
- eISBN:
- 9780191706127
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199276196.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology, Philosophy of Science
This chapter examines Ontic Structural Realism (OSR) and its relationship with the philosophy of physics. OSR is the view that the world has an objective modal structure that is ontologically ...
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This chapter examines Ontic Structural Realism (OSR) and its relationship with the philosophy of physics. OSR is the view that the world has an objective modal structure that is ontologically fundamental, in the sense of not supervening on the intrinsic properties of a set of individuals. According to OSR, even the identity and individuality of objects depends on the relational structure of the world. In keeping with the principle of naturalistic closure (PNC), this account must not imply revision of special sciences for the sake of metaphysical comfort. The purpose of this chapter is to motivate OSR from contemporary fundamental physics, as the PNC requires. This chapter argues for a position that consists in the conjunction of eliminativism about self-subsistent individuals, the view that relational structure is ontologically fundamental, and structural realism (interpreted as the claim that science describes the objective modal structure of the world).Less
This chapter examines Ontic Structural Realism (OSR) and its relationship with the philosophy of physics. OSR is the view that the world has an objective modal structure that is ontologically fundamental, in the sense of not supervening on the intrinsic properties of a set of individuals. According to OSR, even the identity and individuality of objects depends on the relational structure of the world. In keeping with the principle of naturalistic closure (PNC), this account must not imply revision of special sciences for the sake of metaphysical comfort. The purpose of this chapter is to motivate OSR from contemporary fundamental physics, as the PNC requires. This chapter argues for a position that consists in the conjunction of eliminativism about self-subsistent individuals, the view that relational structure is ontologically fundamental, and structural realism (interpreted as the claim that science describes the objective modal structure of the world).
Nick Huggett
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195379518
- eISBN:
- 9780199776559
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195379518.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
Everywhere and Everywhen is an introduction to the ideas and arguments of the central questions that arise when physics meets philosophy: for instance, what are space and time? What are ...
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Everywhere and Everywhen is an introduction to the ideas and arguments of the central questions that arise when physics meets philosophy: for instance, what are space and time? What are Zeno's paradoxes? Are there just three dimensions? Are there other universes? What is the shape of space and how do we know? Why does time seem to pass while space does not? What is the difference between the past and future? Is time travel possible? What is spacetime? What is time according to relativity? What is the difference between left and right? What is a quantum particle? Some of these questions are among the oldest humanity has asked about our place in the world, but some are among the most recent: the book both explores their history and the thinkers that have shaped them, and explains the fundamentals of their current understanding. Readers aren't just spectators to the journey, but are engaged in the debates. This book shows that philosophy, by analyzing fundamental concepts and their relationship to the human experience, has a great deal to say about these profound topics. They are not reserved for physics; as the book demonstrates, philosophy can not only address but help advance our view of our deepest questions about the universe, space, and time, and their implications for humanity. It is aimed at inspiring the reader to think philosophically about the universe revealed by physics.Less
Everywhere and Everywhen is an introduction to the ideas and arguments of the central questions that arise when physics meets philosophy: for instance, what are space and time? What are Zeno's paradoxes? Are there just three dimensions? Are there other universes? What is the shape of space and how do we know? Why does time seem to pass while space does not? What is the difference between the past and future? Is time travel possible? What is spacetime? What is time according to relativity? What is the difference between left and right? What is a quantum particle? Some of these questions are among the oldest humanity has asked about our place in the world, but some are among the most recent: the book both explores their history and the thinkers that have shaped them, and explains the fundamentals of their current understanding. Readers aren't just spectators to the journey, but are engaged in the debates. This book shows that philosophy, by analyzing fundamental concepts and their relationship to the human experience, has a great deal to say about these profound topics. They are not reserved for physics; as the book demonstrates, philosophy can not only address but help advance our view of our deepest questions about the universe, space, and time, and their implications for humanity. It is aimed at inspiring the reader to think philosophically about the universe revealed by physics.
Frank Arntzenius
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199696604
- eISBN:
- 9780191738333
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199696604.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology, Philosophy of Science
This chapter discusses which quantities one should take to be fundamental in quantum mechanics. Five views are discussed: ‘configuration space realism’, ‘wave-function amplitude realism’, ‘density ...
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This chapter discusses which quantities one should take to be fundamental in quantum mechanics. Five views are discussed: ‘configuration space realism’, ‘wave-function amplitude realism’, ‘density operator realism’, ‘Heisenberg operator realism’, and ‘flash-realism’. Arguments are given in favour of ‘Heisenberg operator realism’ which, contrary to perceived wisdom, makes quantum mechanics an entirely separable and local theory.Less
This chapter discusses which quantities one should take to be fundamental in quantum mechanics. Five views are discussed: ‘configuration space realism’, ‘wave-function amplitude realism’, ‘density operator realism’, ‘Heisenberg operator realism’, and ‘flash-realism’. Arguments are given in favour of ‘Heisenberg operator realism’ which, contrary to perceived wisdom, makes quantum mechanics an entirely separable and local theory.
Helge Kragh
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199654987
- eISBN:
- 9780191741692
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199654987.003.0008
- Subject:
- Physics, History of Physics, Atomic, Laser, and Optical Physics
Failed attempts to understand the anomalous Zeeman effect contributed to the feeling of crisis that by 1924 characterized parts of the physics community. The solution proposed by W. Heisenberg’s ...
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Failed attempts to understand the anomalous Zeeman effect contributed to the feeling of crisis that by 1924 characterized parts of the physics community. The solution proposed by W. Heisenberg’s ‘core model’ only raised other problems. Another indication was the state of radiation theory and the uncertain relationship between wave theory and the light quantum, a problem that resulted in the controversial BKS (Bohr–Kramers–Slater) theory of 1924. In the wake of this theory, H. Kramers and Heisenberg constructed a formal theory of dispersion that did not rely on electron orbits but only on observable quantities, in agreement with the ‘quantum mechanics’ programme of M. Born. The development culminated with Heisenberg’s paper of August 1925, which marks the end of the Bohr model and the beginning of quantum mechanics. The chapter reconsiders the crisis and the reasons for it, in particular the role of experimental anomalies.Less
Failed attempts to understand the anomalous Zeeman effect contributed to the feeling of crisis that by 1924 characterized parts of the physics community. The solution proposed by W. Heisenberg’s ‘core model’ only raised other problems. Another indication was the state of radiation theory and the uncertain relationship between wave theory and the light quantum, a problem that resulted in the controversial BKS (Bohr–Kramers–Slater) theory of 1924. In the wake of this theory, H. Kramers and Heisenberg constructed a formal theory of dispersion that did not rely on electron orbits but only on observable quantities, in agreement with the ‘quantum mechanics’ programme of M. Born. The development culminated with Heisenberg’s paper of August 1925, which marks the end of the Bohr model and the beginning of quantum mechanics. The chapter reconsiders the crisis and the reasons for it, in particular the role of experimental anomalies.
Alyssa Ney
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199790807
- eISBN:
- 9780199979660
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199790807.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
The purpose of this introduction is to provide the reader who is unfamiliar with contemporary debates in the metaphysics of quantum mechanics with some background in the central issues that arise in ...
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The purpose of this introduction is to provide the reader who is unfamiliar with contemporary debates in the metaphysics of quantum mechanics with some background in the central issues that arise in this volume. The goal is to sketch one clean, direct, accessible path from classical physics to quantum theory that will serve to clarify the main interpretive issues that arise in the volume. Key technical concepts of quantum mechanics are introduced as well as the main interpretive options.Less
The purpose of this introduction is to provide the reader who is unfamiliar with contemporary debates in the metaphysics of quantum mechanics with some background in the central issues that arise in this volume. The goal is to sketch one clean, direct, accessible path from classical physics to quantum theory that will serve to clarify the main interpretive issues that arise in the volume. Key technical concepts of quantum mechanics are introduced as well as the main interpretive options.
Oliver Johns
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198567264
- eISBN:
- 9780191717987
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198567264.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Atomic, Laser, and Optical Physics
This book provides an innovative and mathematically sound treatment of the foundations of analytical mechanics and the relation of classical mechanics to relativity and quantum theory. A ...
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This book provides an innovative and mathematically sound treatment of the foundations of analytical mechanics and the relation of classical mechanics to relativity and quantum theory. A distinguishing feature of the book is its integration of special relativity into teaching of classical mechanics. After a thorough review of the traditional theory, the book introduces extended Lagrangian and Hamiltonian methods that treat time as a transformable coordinate rather than the fixed parameter of Newtonian physics. Advanced topics such as covariant Langrangians and Hamiltonians, canonical transformations, and Hamilton-Jacobi methods are simplified by the use of this extended theory. And the definition of canonical transformation no longer excludes the Lorenz transformation of special relativity. This is also a book for those who study analytical mechanics to prepare for a critical exploration of quantum mechanics. Comparisons to quantum mechanics appear throughout the text. The extended Hamiltonian theory with time as a coordinate is compared to Dirac’s formalism of primary phase space constraints. The chapter on relativistic mechanics shows how to use covariant Hamiltonian theory to write the Klein-Gordon and Dirac equations. The chapter on Hamilton-Jacobi theory includes a discussion of the closely related Bohm hidden variable model of quantum mechanics. Classical mechanics itself is presented with an emphasis on methods, such as linear vector operators and dyadics, that will familiarise the student with similar techniques in quantum theory. Several of the current fundamental problems in theoretical physics, such as the development of quantum information technology and the problem of quantising the gravitational field, require a rethinking of the quantum-classical connection.Less
This book provides an innovative and mathematically sound treatment of the foundations of analytical mechanics and the relation of classical mechanics to relativity and quantum theory. A distinguishing feature of the book is its integration of special relativity into teaching of classical mechanics. After a thorough review of the traditional theory, the book introduces extended Lagrangian and Hamiltonian methods that treat time as a transformable coordinate rather than the fixed parameter of Newtonian physics. Advanced topics such as covariant Langrangians and Hamiltonians, canonical transformations, and Hamilton-Jacobi methods are simplified by the use of this extended theory. And the definition of canonical transformation no longer excludes the Lorenz transformation of special relativity. This is also a book for those who study analytical mechanics to prepare for a critical exploration of quantum mechanics. Comparisons to quantum mechanics appear throughout the text. The extended Hamiltonian theory with time as a coordinate is compared to Dirac’s formalism of primary phase space constraints. The chapter on relativistic mechanics shows how to use covariant Hamiltonian theory to write the Klein-Gordon and Dirac equations. The chapter on Hamilton-Jacobi theory includes a discussion of the closely related Bohm hidden variable model of quantum mechanics. Classical mechanics itself is presented with an emphasis on methods, such as linear vector operators and dyadics, that will familiarise the student with similar techniques in quantum theory. Several of the current fundamental problems in theoretical physics, such as the development of quantum information technology and the problem of quantising the gravitational field, require a rethinking of the quantum-classical connection.
Michael Epperson
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823223190
- eISBN:
- 9780823235551
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823223190.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Logic/Philosophy of Mathematics
In Process and Reality and other works, Alfred North Whitehead struggled to come to terms with the impact the new science of quantum mechanics would have on metaphysics. This book is ...
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In Process and Reality and other works, Alfred North Whitehead struggled to come to terms with the impact the new science of quantum mechanics would have on metaphysics. This book is the first extended analysis of the intricate relationships between relativity theory, quantum mechanics, and Whitehead's cosmology. Illuminated here is the intersection of science and philosophy in Whitehead's work, and details of Whitehead's attempts to fashion an ontology coherent with quantum anomalies. Including a non-specialist introduction to quantum mechanics, the book adds an essential new dimension to our understanding of Whitehead.Less
In Process and Reality and other works, Alfred North Whitehead struggled to come to terms with the impact the new science of quantum mechanics would have on metaphysics. This book is the first extended analysis of the intricate relationships between relativity theory, quantum mechanics, and Whitehead's cosmology. Illuminated here is the intersection of science and philosophy in Whitehead's work, and details of Whitehead's attempts to fashion an ontology coherent with quantum anomalies. Including a non-specialist introduction to quantum mechanics, the book adds an essential new dimension to our understanding of Whitehead.
Paull Nunez
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195340716
- eISBN:
- 9780199776269
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195340716.003.0009
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Development
The possibility of deep connections between modern physics (relativity, quantum mechanics, and thermodynamics) and consciousness is labeled here as the RQTC conjecture, independent of the actual ...
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The possibility of deep connections between modern physics (relativity, quantum mechanics, and thermodynamics) and consciousness is labeled here as the RQTC conjecture, independent of the actual nature of any such connection. While many are quite skeptical of this idea, it is raised here partly because classical physics apparently cannot even begin to explain consciousness. This chapter argues that the study of consciousness must essentially be a study of the nature of reality, and modern physics deals with important aspects of physical reality. There is no unequivocal evidence supporting the RQTC conjecture, but modern physics provides a number of intriguing hints of possible connections.Less
The possibility of deep connections between modern physics (relativity, quantum mechanics, and thermodynamics) and consciousness is labeled here as the RQTC conjecture, independent of the actual nature of any such connection. While many are quite skeptical of this idea, it is raised here partly because classical physics apparently cannot even begin to explain consciousness. This chapter argues that the study of consciousness must essentially be a study of the nature of reality, and modern physics deals with important aspects of physical reality. There is no unequivocal evidence supporting the RQTC conjecture, but modern physics provides a number of intriguing hints of possible connections.
Olivier Darrigol
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- June 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780198712886
- eISBN:
- 9780191781360
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198712886.003.0008
- Subject:
- Physics, History of Physics
This chapter is devoted to several attempts at showing the necessity of quantum mechanics. It first examines whether necessity arguments can be extracted from the history of quantum mechanics, both ...
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This chapter is devoted to several attempts at showing the necessity of quantum mechanics. It first examines whether necessity arguments can be extracted from the history of quantum mechanics, both on the matrix-mechanics side and on the wave-mechanics side. It then recounts the stunning mathematical discovery (1979) that the only one-parameter deformation of the Lie algebra of classical Hamiltonian mechanics is the Moyal algebra, which is isomorphic to the algebra of infinitesimal evolutions of quantum mechanics. The chapter goes on with an account of “quantum logic” as an attempt to justify the matrix-density representation of quantum states and the unitary evolution of these states by a natural logic of Yes–No experimental questions. The last section is a discussion of Lucien Hardy’s (2001) and more recent proposals of “natural axioms” for statistical measurement correlations, leading again to the matrix-density formulation of quantum mechanics.Less
This chapter is devoted to several attempts at showing the necessity of quantum mechanics. It first examines whether necessity arguments can be extracted from the history of quantum mechanics, both on the matrix-mechanics side and on the wave-mechanics side. It then recounts the stunning mathematical discovery (1979) that the only one-parameter deformation of the Lie algebra of classical Hamiltonian mechanics is the Moyal algebra, which is isomorphic to the algebra of infinitesimal evolutions of quantum mechanics. The chapter goes on with an account of “quantum logic” as an attempt to justify the matrix-density representation of quantum states and the unitary evolution of these states by a natural logic of Yes–No experimental questions. The last section is a discussion of Lucien Hardy’s (2001) and more recent proposals of “natural axioms” for statistical measurement correlations, leading again to the matrix-density formulation of quantum mechanics.
Arkady Plotnitsky
Apostolos Doxiadis and Barry Mazur (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149042
- eISBN:
- 9781400842681
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149042.003.0012
- Subject:
- Mathematics, History of Mathematics
This chapter explores the relationship between narrative and non-Euclidean mathematics. It considers how non-Euclidean mathematics and the narratives accompanying it are linked: first, to the ...
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This chapter explores the relationship between narrative and non-Euclidean mathematics. It considers how non-Euclidean mathematics and the narratives accompanying it are linked: first, to the question of the potentially uncircumventable limits of thought and knowledge; and second, to the question of a certain heterogeneous and yet interactive multiplicity of concepts and of different fields such as algebra and geometry. The chapter starts with the Pythagoreans' discovery of the concept of “incommensurability,” or the irrationality of certain numbers, specifically the side and the diagonal of the square, and the narrative associated with this discovery. It then examines the transition from non-Euclidean physics to non-Euclidean mathematics by focusing on quantum mechanics and its relation to non-Euclidean epistemology. It also discusses the algebraic aspects of non-Euclidean geometry and concludes with the suggestion that non-Euclidean thinking retains the essential, shaping role of the movement of thought.Less
This chapter explores the relationship between narrative and non-Euclidean mathematics. It considers how non-Euclidean mathematics and the narratives accompanying it are linked: first, to the question of the potentially uncircumventable limits of thought and knowledge; and second, to the question of a certain heterogeneous and yet interactive multiplicity of concepts and of different fields such as algebra and geometry. The chapter starts with the Pythagoreans' discovery of the concept of “incommensurability,” or the irrationality of certain numbers, specifically the side and the diagonal of the square, and the narrative associated with this discovery. It then examines the transition from non-Euclidean physics to non-Euclidean mathematics by focusing on quantum mechanics and its relation to non-Euclidean epistemology. It also discusses the algebraic aspects of non-Euclidean geometry and concludes with the suggestion that non-Euclidean thinking retains the essential, shaping role of the movement of thought.
Richard Healey
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199287963
- eISBN:
- 9780191713453
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199287963.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This chapter begins the project of interpreting quantum gauge field theories. It rejects an interesting recent interpretation and explains why it is so difficult to arrive at a better one. The ...
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This chapter begins the project of interpreting quantum gauge field theories. It rejects an interesting recent interpretation and explains why it is so difficult to arrive at a better one. The difficulty stems from the problems of interpreting any quantum field theory. Even the non-relativistic quantum mechanics of particles is a theory whose interpretation remains at best controversial, and at worst simply lacking. Interpretations of quantum field theory face the additional hurdle that it is not clear what the theory is about: neither a field nor a particle ontology is readily squared with the mathematics of the theory. The chapter explores the status of loop representations in several approaches toward the interpretation of quantum field theory.Less
This chapter begins the project of interpreting quantum gauge field theories. It rejects an interesting recent interpretation and explains why it is so difficult to arrive at a better one. The difficulty stems from the problems of interpreting any quantum field theory. Even the non-relativistic quantum mechanics of particles is a theory whose interpretation remains at best controversial, and at worst simply lacking. Interpretations of quantum field theory face the additional hurdle that it is not clear what the theory is about: neither a field nor a particle ontology is readily squared with the mathematics of the theory. The chapter explores the status of loop representations in several approaches toward the interpretation of quantum field theory.
Frank Arntzenius
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199696604
- eISBN:
- 9780191738333
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199696604.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology, Philosophy of Science
Much of this book can be seen as an attempt to show that physics is geometry, an attempt to show that the fundamental structure of the physical world is purely geometrical structure. Along the way, ...
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Much of this book can be seen as an attempt to show that physics is geometry, an attempt to show that the fundamental structure of the physical world is purely geometrical structure. Along the way, some non-standard views about the structure of spacetime and its inhabitants are examined, such as the idea that space and time, literally, are pointless, the idea that quantum mechanics is a completely local and separable theory, the idea that antiparticles are just particles travelling back in time, and the idea that time has no structure whatsoever. The main thrust of the book is that there are good reasons to believe that spaces other than spacetime exist, and that it is the existence of these additional spaces that allows one to reduce all of physics to geometry. Philosophy, metaphysics in particular, plays an important role in this book: the assumption that the fundamental laws of physics are simple in terms of the fundamental physical properties and relations is pivotal. Without this assumption one gets nowhere. That is to say, when trying to extract the fundamental structure of the world from theories of physics one ignores philosophy at one’s peril!Less
Much of this book can be seen as an attempt to show that physics is geometry, an attempt to show that the fundamental structure of the physical world is purely geometrical structure. Along the way, some non-standard views about the structure of spacetime and its inhabitants are examined, such as the idea that space and time, literally, are pointless, the idea that quantum mechanics is a completely local and separable theory, the idea that antiparticles are just particles travelling back in time, and the idea that time has no structure whatsoever. The main thrust of the book is that there are good reasons to believe that spaces other than spacetime exist, and that it is the existence of these additional spaces that allows one to reduce all of physics to geometry. Philosophy, metaphysics in particular, plays an important role in this book: the assumption that the fundamental laws of physics are simple in terms of the fundamental physical properties and relations is pivotal. Without this assumption one gets nowhere. That is to say, when trying to extract the fundamental structure of the world from theories of physics one ignores philosophy at one’s peril!
Storrs McCall
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198236221
- eISBN:
- 9780191679209
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198236221.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology, Philosophy of Science
While it is not easy in quantum mechanics to construct a picture in space and time, the branched model provides both a picture and an explanation of some of the features of quantum mechanics that ...
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While it is not easy in quantum mechanics to construct a picture in space and time, the branched model provides both a picture and an explanation of some of the features of quantum mechanics that have up to now resisted attempts to understand them. This chapter focuses on the interpretation of quantum mechanics through the branched model. The branched interpretation is an interpretation, not a new quantum theory, and does not replace the elegant theoretical apparatus of state vectors and operators in Hilbert space that are used to calculate and predict quantum probabilities. The interpretation is via the concept of probability, this concept having both a theoretical and an ontological aspect.Less
While it is not easy in quantum mechanics to construct a picture in space and time, the branched model provides both a picture and an explanation of some of the features of quantum mechanics that have up to now resisted attempts to understand them. This chapter focuses on the interpretation of quantum mechanics through the branched model. The branched interpretation is an interpretation, not a new quantum theory, and does not replace the elegant theoretical apparatus of state vectors and operators in Hilbert space that are used to calculate and predict quantum probabilities. The interpretation is via the concept of probability, this concept having both a theoretical and an ontological aspect.
Hilary Greaves and Wayne Myrvold
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560561
- eISBN:
- 9780191721380
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560561.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology, Philosophy of Science
Much of the evidence for quantum mechanics is statistical in nature. Relative frequency data summarizing the results of repeated experiments is compared to probabilities calculated from the theory; ...
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Much of the evidence for quantum mechanics is statistical in nature. Relative frequency data summarizing the results of repeated experiments is compared to probabilities calculated from the theory; close agreement between the observed relative frequencies and calculated probabilities is taken as evidence in favour of the theory. The Everett interpretation, if it is to be a candidate for serious consideration, must be capable of doing justice to this sort of reasoning. Since, on the Everett interpretation, all outcomes with non-zero amplitude are actualized on different branches, it is not obvious that sense can be made of ascribing probabilities to outcomes of experiments, and this poses a prima facie problem for statistical inference. It is incumbent on the Everettian either to make sense of ascribing probabilities to outcomes of experiments in the Everett interpretation, or to find a substitute on which the usual statistical analysis of experimental results continues to count as evidence for quantum mechanics, and, since it is the very evidence for quantum mechanics that is at stake, this must be done in a way that does not presuppose the correctness of Everettian quantum mechanics. This requires an account of theory confirmation that applies to branching-universe theories but does not presuppose the correctness of any such theory. This chapter supplies and defends such an account. The account has the consequence that statistical evidence can confirm a branching-universe theory such as Everettian quantum mechanics in the same way in which it can confirm a non-branching probabilistic theory.Less
Much of the evidence for quantum mechanics is statistical in nature. Relative frequency data summarizing the results of repeated experiments is compared to probabilities calculated from the theory; close agreement between the observed relative frequencies and calculated probabilities is taken as evidence in favour of the theory. The Everett interpretation, if it is to be a candidate for serious consideration, must be capable of doing justice to this sort of reasoning. Since, on the Everett interpretation, all outcomes with non-zero amplitude are actualized on different branches, it is not obvious that sense can be made of ascribing probabilities to outcomes of experiments, and this poses a prima facie problem for statistical inference. It is incumbent on the Everettian either to make sense of ascribing probabilities to outcomes of experiments in the Everett interpretation, or to find a substitute on which the usual statistical analysis of experimental results continues to count as evidence for quantum mechanics, and, since it is the very evidence for quantum mechanics that is at stake, this must be done in a way that does not presuppose the correctness of Everettian quantum mechanics. This requires an account of theory confirmation that applies to branching-universe theories but does not presuppose the correctness of any such theory. This chapter supplies and defends such an account. The account has the consequence that statistical evidence can confirm a branching-universe theory such as Everettian quantum mechanics in the same way in which it can confirm a non-branching probabilistic theory.
Michael Munowitz
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195167375
- eISBN:
- 9780199787104
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195167375.003.0008
- Subject:
- Physics, History of Physics
The quantum mechanical superposition state — the wave function — takes shape, and the rules for its deterministic evolution and probabilistic interpretation are developed. A clockwork macrocosm in ...
More
The quantum mechanical superposition state — the wave function — takes shape, and the rules for its deterministic evolution and probabilistic interpretation are developed. A clockwork macrocosm in which the Moon never wavers from its course gives way to a guesswork microcosm in which an electron follows no predetermined path at all. This leads to a quantum mechanical world in which the sharp values of position, velocity, momentum, energy, and all the other quantities of classical mechanics blur into the probability distributions of quantum mechanics.Less
The quantum mechanical superposition state — the wave function — takes shape, and the rules for its deterministic evolution and probabilistic interpretation are developed. A clockwork macrocosm in which the Moon never wavers from its course gives way to a guesswork microcosm in which an electron follows no predetermined path at all. This leads to a quantum mechanical world in which the sharp values of position, velocity, momentum, energy, and all the other quantities of classical mechanics blur into the probability distributions of quantum mechanics.
Vlatko Vedral
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199215706
- eISBN:
- 9780191706783
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199215706.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Theoretical, Computational, and Statistical Physics
In addition to treating quantum communication, entanglement, error correction, and algorithms in great depth, this book also addresses a number of interesting miscellaneous topics, such as Maxwell's ...
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In addition to treating quantum communication, entanglement, error correction, and algorithms in great depth, this book also addresses a number of interesting miscellaneous topics, such as Maxwell's demon, Landauer's erasure, the Bekenstein bound, and Caratheodory's treatment of the second law of thermodynamics. All mathematical derivations are based on clear physical pictures which make even the most involved results — such as the Holevo bound — look comprehensible and transparent. Quantum information is a fascinating topic precisely because it shows that the laws of information processing are actually dependent on the laws of physics. However, it is also very interesting to see that information theory has something to teach us about physics. Both of these directions are discussed throughout the book. Other topics covered in the book are quantum mechanics, measures of quantum entanglement, general conditions of quantum error correction, pure state entanglement and Pauli matrices, pure states and Bell's inequalities, and computational complexity of quantum algorithms.Less
In addition to treating quantum communication, entanglement, error correction, and algorithms in great depth, this book also addresses a number of interesting miscellaneous topics, such as Maxwell's demon, Landauer's erasure, the Bekenstein bound, and Caratheodory's treatment of the second law of thermodynamics. All mathematical derivations are based on clear physical pictures which make even the most involved results — such as the Holevo bound — look comprehensible and transparent. Quantum information is a fascinating topic precisely because it shows that the laws of information processing are actually dependent on the laws of physics. However, it is also very interesting to see that information theory has something to teach us about physics. Both of these directions are discussed throughout the book. Other topics covered in the book are quantum mechanics, measures of quantum entanglement, general conditions of quantum error correction, pure state entanglement and Pauli matrices, pure states and Bell's inequalities, and computational complexity of quantum algorithms.
Nancy Cartwright
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198235071
- eISBN:
- 9780191597169
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198235070.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This book on the philosophy of science argues for an empiricism, opposed to the tradition of David Hume, in which singular rather than general causal claims are primary; causal laws express facts ...
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This book on the philosophy of science argues for an empiricism, opposed to the tradition of David Hume, in which singular rather than general causal claims are primary; causal laws express facts about singular causes whereas the general causal claims of science are ascriptions of capacities or causal powers, capacities to make things happen. Taking science as measurement, Cartwright argues that capacities are necessary for science and that these can be measured, provided suitable conditions are met. There are case studies from both econometrics and quantum mechanics.Less
This book on the philosophy of science argues for an empiricism, opposed to the tradition of David Hume, in which singular rather than general causal claims are primary; causal laws express facts about singular causes whereas the general causal claims of science are ascriptions of capacities or causal powers, capacities to make things happen. Taking science as measurement, Cartwright argues that capacities are necessary for science and that these can be measured, provided suitable conditions are met. There are case studies from both econometrics and quantum mechanics.
JAGDISH MEHRA and KIMBALL A. MILTON
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198527459
- eISBN:
- 9780191709593
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198527459.003.0010
- Subject:
- Physics, History of Physics
Julian Schwinger was a master of quantum mechanics from his earliest days. His first, unpublished paper, written at age 16, already showed his control of the entire machinery of relativistic quantum ...
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Julian Schwinger was a master of quantum mechanics from his earliest days. His first, unpublished paper, written at age 16, already showed his control of the entire machinery of relativistic quantum mechanics. Yet it was undoubtedly his contact with Isidor Isaac Rabi at Columbia University in New York that led to his deeper understanding and reformulation of quantum mechanics. Rabi was doing experiments with atomic beams at Columbia in the mid-1930s, and the question was how atomic and nuclear spins interacted with magnetic fields. By about 1950, Schwinger had begun his third reformulation of quantum electrodynamics, or in general, quantum field theory, based on the quantum action principle. Schwinger made the analysis of successive Stern-Gerlach experiments on spin systems the basis of his introduction to quantum mechanics—all the properties of quantum mechanics could be inferred from a few simple experimental facts. This chapter discusses the quantum theory of measurement, angular momentum, potential problems and quantum oscillators, and spin coherence.Less
Julian Schwinger was a master of quantum mechanics from his earliest days. His first, unpublished paper, written at age 16, already showed his control of the entire machinery of relativistic quantum mechanics. Yet it was undoubtedly his contact with Isidor Isaac Rabi at Columbia University in New York that led to his deeper understanding and reformulation of quantum mechanics. Rabi was doing experiments with atomic beams at Columbia in the mid-1930s, and the question was how atomic and nuclear spins interacted with magnetic fields. By about 1950, Schwinger had begun his third reformulation of quantum electrodynamics, or in general, quantum field theory, based on the quantum action principle. Schwinger made the analysis of successive Stern-Gerlach experiments on spin systems the basis of his introduction to quantum mechanics—all the properties of quantum mechanics could be inferred from a few simple experimental facts. This chapter discusses the quantum theory of measurement, angular momentum, potential problems and quantum oscillators, and spin coherence.
