Quantum Mechanics and Its Interpretations: A Defense of the Quantum Principles
- PDF / 884,620 Bytes
- 18 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 68 Downloads / 146 Views
Quantum Mechanics and Its Interpretations: A Defense of the Quantum Principles Sébastien Poinat1 Received: 4 June 2020 / Accepted: 11 July 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract One of the most striking features of the epistemological situation of Quantum Mechanics is the number of interpretations and the many schools of thought, with no consensus on the way to understand the theory. In this article, I introduce a distinction between orthodox interpretations and heterodox interpretations of Quantum Mechanics: the orthodox interpretations preserve all the quantum principles while the heterodox interpretations replace at least one of them. Then, I argue that we have strong empirical and epistemological reasons to prefer orthodox interpretations to heterodox interpretations. The first argument is that all the experiments on the foundations of Quantum Mechanics give a high degree of corroboration to the quantum principles and, consequently, to the orthodox interpretations. The second argument is that the scientific progress needs a consensus: this consensus is impossible with the heterodox interpretations, while it is possible with the orthodox interpretations. Giving the preference to the orthodox interpretations is a reasonable position which could preserve both a consensus on quantum principles and a plurality of views on Quantum Mechanics. Keywords Quantum mechanics · Interpretations · Quantum principles · Orthodox interpretations · Heterodox interpretations
1 Introduction Throughout its 90 years of life Quantum Mechanics has given birth to several versions that are usually called “interpretations of Quantum Mechanics”: Bohr’s interpretation, De Broglie’s interpretation, Bohm’s interpretation (Bohm, Hiley), Everett’s interpretation and its variants (Everett, DeWitt and Graham, Saunders, Wallace), the many-minds interpretations (Albert and Loewer, Lockwood), the * Sébastien Poinat sebastien.poinat@univ‑cotedazur.fr 1
Université Côte d’Azur - Centre de Recherches en Histoire des Idées, 98 Boulevard Edouard Herriot, 06000 Nice, France
13
Vol.:(0123456789)
Foundations of Physics
modal interpretations (Healey, van Fraassen, Dieks, Bub), the interpretations based on decoherence (Joos, Zeh, Zurek), the Itaca interpretation (Mermin), the information interpretation (Bruckner, Zeilinger), Popper’s interpretation, the consistent histories interpretations (Griffiths, Gell-Mann and Hartle, Omnès), the objective collapse interpretation (Ghirardhi, Rimini and Weber), the statistical interpretation (Ballentine), Rovelli’s interpretation, the pragmatist interpretation (Bächtold), the Qbist interpretation (Fuchs)... This list is not exhaustive but is sufficient to show how large the number of different versions of Quantum Mechanics has become. The state of the discussion changed over the years: some interpretations are not judged convincing anymore, while some others are actively discussed. Due to the collective discussion about the best interpretation, some progress have be
Data Loading...
