Skip to main content
Log in

Towards a Realistic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics Providing a Model of the Physical World

  • Published:
Foundations of Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

It is argued that a realistic interpretation of quantum mechanics is possible and useful. Current interpretations, from “Copenhagen” to “many worlds” are critically revisited. The difficulties for intuitive models of quantum physics are pointed out and possible solutions proposed. In particular the existence of discrete states, the quantum jumps, the alleged lack of objective properties, measurement theory, the probabilistic character of quantum physics, the wave–particle duality and the Bell inequalities are analyzed. The sketch of a realistic picture of the quantum world is presented. It rests upon the assumption that quantum mechanics is a stochastic theory whose randomness derives from the existence of vacuum fields. They correspond to the vacuum fluctuations of quantum field theory, but taken as real rather than virtual.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Auletta, G. (2000). Foundations and interpretation of quantum mechanics. Singapore: World Scientific.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ballentine, L. E. (1998). Quantum mechanics: A modern development. Singapore: World Scientific.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bell, J. S. (1964). On the Einstein Podolsky Rosen paradox. Physics, 1, 195–200. (Reprinted in Bell (1987) and in Wheeler and Zurek (1983)).

  • Bell, J. S. (1966). On the problem of hidden variables in quantum mechanics. Reviews of Modern Physics, 38, 447–452. (Reprinted in Bell (1987) and in Wheeler & Zurek (1983)).

  • Bell, J. S. (1987). Are there quantum jumps? In Bell.

  • Bell, S. J. (2004). Speakable and unspeakable in quantum mechanics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Second edition. First published in 1987). This book contains reprints of many articles of Bell on foundations of quantum physics.

  • Beneduci, R., & Schroeck, F. E. (2014). On the unavoidability of the interpretations of quantum mechanics. American Journal of Physics, 82, 80–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bohm, D. (1952). A suggested interpretation of the quantum theory in terms of “hidden” variables. Physical Review, 85, 166–193. (Reprinted in Wheeler & Zurek (1983)).

  • Bohr, N. (1928). The quantum postulate and the recent development of atomic theory. Nature, 121, 580–90. (Reprinted in Wheeler & Zurek (1983)).

  • Bohr, N. (1935). Can quantum-mechanical description of physical reality be considered complete? Physical Review, 48, 696 (1935).

  • Bunge, M. (1973). Philosophy of physics. Dordrecht: Reidel.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Casimir, H. G. B. (1948). On the attraction between two perfectly conducting plates. Proc. Con. Ned. Akad. van Wetensch B, 51(7), 793–796.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christensen, B. G., McCusker, K. T., Altepeter, J., Calkins, B., Gerrits, T., Lita, A., et al. (2013). Detection-loophole-free test of quantum nonlocality, and applications. Physical Review Letters, 111, 130406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • d’Espagnat, B. (2003). Veiled reality: An analysis of present-day quantum mechanical concepts. Boulder: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • d’Espagnat, B. (2006). On physics and philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • d’Espagnat, B. (2011). Quantum physics and reality. Foundations of Physics, 41, 1703–1716.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de la Peña, L., & Cetto, A. M. (1996). The quantum dice: An introduction to stochastic electrodynamics. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Einstein, A. (1949). Remarks concering the essays brought toghether in this co-operative volume. In P. A. Schilpp (Ed.), Albert Einstein: Philosopher-scientist (pp. 665–688). La Salle, IL: Open Court.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Witt, B. S., & Graham, N. (1973). The many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Einstein, A., Podolsky, B., & Rosen, N. (1935). Can quantum-mechanical description of physical reality be considered complete? Physical Review, 47, 777–780 (Reprinted in Wheeler & Zurek (1983)).

  • Englert, B. G. (2013). On quantum theroy. The European Physics Journal D, 67, 238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Everett, H. (1957). ‘Relative state’ formulation of quantum mechanics. Reviews of Modern Physics, 29, 454–462.

  • Feynman, R. P. (1988). QED: The strange theory of light and matter (7th ed.). Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fine, A. (1986). The Shaky game: Einstein realism and the quantum theory. Science and its conceptual foundations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuchs, C. A. (2002). Quantum mechanics as quantum information (and only a little more). Arxiv: quant-ph/0205039.

  • Fuchs, C. A., & Peres, A. (2000). Quantum theory needs no “interpretation”. Physics Today, 53, 70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghirardi, G. C. (2011). Collapse theories. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Winter 2011 Edition).

  • Ghirardi, G. C., Pearle, P., & Rimini, A. (1990). Markov processes in Hilbert space and continuous spontaneous localization of systems of identical particles. Physical Review A, 42, 78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghirardi, G. C., Rimini, A., & Weber, T. (1986). Unified dynamics for microscopic and macroscopic systems. Physical Review D, 34, 470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, R. J. (1984). Consistent histories and the interpretation of quantum mechanics. Journal of Statistical Physics, 36, 219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrigan, N., & Spekkens, R. W. (2010). Einstein, incompleteness, and the epistemic view of quantum states. Foundations of Physics, 40, 125–157. Arxiv: 0706.2661

  • Heisenberg, W. (1971). Physics and beyond : encounters and conversations. New York: Harper & Row. Chapter 5: Quantum mechanics and a talk with Einstein (1925–1926) pp. 59–69.

  • Isham, Chris J. (1995). Lectures on quantum theory. Mathematical and structural foundations. London: Imperial College Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jammer, M. (1974). The phylosophy of quantum mechanics. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joos, E. (2003). Decoherence and the appearance of a classical world in quantum theory (2nd ed.). Berlin: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lakatos, I. (1980). The mothodology of scientific research programmes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laloë, F. (2012). Do we really understand quantum mechanics? Strange correlations, paradoxes, and theorems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lamb, W. (1995). Anti-photon. Applied Physics B, 60, 77–84; The interpretation of quantum mechanics, Rinton Press, Princeton, 2001.

  • Lamoreaux, S. K. (1997). Demonstration of the Casimir force in the 0.6 to 6 \(\mu \)m range. Physical Review Letters, 78, 5.

  • Lewis, P. G., Jennings, D., Barrett, J., & Rudolph, T. (2012). Distinct quantum states can be compatible with a single state of reality. Physical Review Letters, 109, 150404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • London, F., & Bauer, E. (1939). In P. Langevin (Ed.), Actualités scientifiques et industrielles: Exposé de physique générale, No. 775. Paris: Hermann. (English translation reprinted in Wheeler and Zurek (1983)).

  • Marchildon, L. (2011). Can Everett be interpreted without extravaganza? Foundations of Physics, 14, 357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, T. W., & Santos, E. (1993). Can the Stern–Gerlach effect exhibit quantum nonlocality? In P. Bush, P. Lahti, & P. Mittelstaedt (Eds.), Symposium on the foundations of modern physics (pp. 361–368). Singapore: World Scientific.

  • Mermin, D. N. (1993). Hidden variables and the two theorems of John Bell. Reviews of Modern Physics, 65, 803–815.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milonni, P. W. (1993). The quantum vacuum: An introduction to quantum electrodynamics. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mittelstaedt, P. (1998). The Interpretation of quantum mechanics and the measurement process. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mittelstaedt, P. (2011). The problem of interpretation of modern physics. Foundations of Physics, 41, 1667–1676.

  • Nelson, E. (1912). Review of stochastic mechanics. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 361, 012011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Omnes, R. (1999). Understanding quantum mechanics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popper, K. R. (1980). The logic of scientific discovery. London: Hutchinson. (German original).

    Google Scholar 

  • Popper, K. R. (1982). Quantum theory and the schism of physics. Totowa, NJ: W. W. Bartley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pusey, M. F., Barrett, J., & Rudolph, T. (2012). On the reality of the quantum state. Nature Physics, 8, 475–478. Arxiv: 1111.3328

  • Redhead, M. (1990). Incompleteness, nonlocality and realism. Oxford: Clasrendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Santos, E. (2003). Quantum logic, probability and information: The relation with the Bell inequalities. International Journal of Theoretical Physics, 42, 2545–2555.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schrödinger, E. (1935). The present situation of quantum mechanics. Naturwissenschaften, 23, 807–812; 823–828; 844–849. (English translation reprinted in Wheeler & Zurek (1983)).

  • Suppe, F. (1977). The structure of scientific theories. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tegmark, M. (1998). The interpretation of quantum mechanics: Many worlds or many words? Fortschritt Physics, 46, 855–862.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • von Neumann, J. (1932). Mathematishe Grundlagen der Quantuenmechanik. Berlin: Springer. English translation Princeton University Press, 1955.

  • Wheeler, J. A., & Zurek, W. H. (1983). Quantum theory and measurement. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wick, D. (1995). The infamous boundary: Seven decades of controversy in quantum physics. Boston: Birkhaüser.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wigner, E. P. (1961). Remarks on the mind–body question. In I. J. Good (Ed.), The scientist speculates (pp. 284–302). London: Heinemann. (Reprinted in Wheeler & Zurek (1983)).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emilio Santos.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Santos, E. Towards a Realistic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics Providing a Model of the Physical World. Found Sci 20, 357–386 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10699-014-9366-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10699-014-9366-y

Keywords

Navigation