Agents and Peer-to-Peer Computing 5th International Workshop, AP
This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-workshop proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Agents and Peer-to-Peer Computing, AP2PC 2006, held in Hakodate, Japan, in May 2006, in the context of the 5th International Joint Conference on A
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THE QUANTUM WORLDVIEW: ITS DIFFICUL TIES AND AN ATTEMPT TO OVERCOME THEM
This paper consists of two parts. The first one is devoted to a general discussion of the problems which one meets in trying to build up a coherent worldview which takes into account the quantum nature of physical phenomena. This part requires only a general knowledge of the formal structure of the theory. In the second part a recently proposed modification of the formalism aimed at overcoming the difficulties and the limitations of the standard approach is considered. For a better understanding of this part we suggest a prior careful reading of Ghirardi and Rimini (1990) and of the detailed contribution to these proceedings by Professor T. Weber.
PART I 1. ORTHODOXY VERSUS HERESY
In this first part we will expound in a simple, concise and elementary way the consequences in the philosophy, methodology and foundations of physics which derive from the adoption of the quantum axiomatic scheme and of its related, so-called 'orthodox interpretation'. It could be remarked that the expression 'orthodox interpretation of quantum mechanics' (OIQM) is not a very precise one, and that it would therefore have been preferable to avoid its use. In fact, first of all, different authors have designated by such an expression a whole set of positions about the formalism and its conceptual implications, which in some cases may differ on fundamental points. Secondly, and more important, as we will try to show, almost all the conceptual difficulties that quantum mechanics encounters are not due to its interpretation but arise from the quite peculiar features of microscopic phenomena which nature has compelled us to accept. It is the occurrence of such peculiarities which seems not to allow us to base on the formalism a consistent and unified description of natural phenomena at all levels. A tentative conclusion of this paper will 175 G. Corsi et al. (eds), Bridging the Gap: Philosophy, Mathematics, and Physics, 175-197.
© 1993 Kluwer Academic Publishers.
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GIAN CARLO GHIRARDI
in fact be that it is the theory itself, and not its interpretation, which requires changing. Why, then, do I insist on using the expression OIQM? There are various reasons for this. First, even though, as remarked above, there are many different specific views which are referred to as the OIQM, they correspond to the taking of similar positions with respect to some basic questions which are central to this paper, such as: - What are the physical theories about: physical systems or laboratory experiments? - What is the role of the apparatus and of the observer in physics? Secondly, it is useful to stress that it is just the kind of answers that have been given to such questions by eminent exponents of the OIQM which have played a fundamental role in leading the majority of the scientific community to accept, for many years, the point of view that the conceptual problems raised by the theory "were of no great interest and could, in any case, be sorted out withfew hours' careful thoug
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