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Quantum Mechanics and Fundamentality

Naturalizing Quantum Theory between Scientific Realism and Ontological Indeterminacy

  • Book
  • © 2022

Overview

Editors:
  1. Valia Allori

    1. Philosophy Department, Northern Illinois University, Naperville, USA

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  • Provides new perspectives on long-standing metaphysical questions arising in quantum mechanics
  • Contributions by physicists - incl. Nobel Prize winner Gerard 't Hooft - science communicators and philosophers
  • First book covering quantum indeterminacy and its connection to fundamentality and ontological dependence

Part of the book series: Synthese Library (SYLI, volume 460)

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Table of contents (26 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxi
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  4. The Wave Function

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 193-193
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    2. Wave Function Realism and Three Dimensions

      • Lev Vaidman
      Pages 195-209

    3. Reality as a Vector in Hilbert Space

      • Sean M. Carroll
      Pages 211-224

    4. Platonic Quantum Theory

      • Jacob A. Barandes
      Pages 225-253
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Keywords

About this book

This edited collection provides new perspectives on some metaphysical questions arising in quantum mechanics. These questions have been long-standing and are of continued interest to researchers and graduate students working in physics, philosophy of physics, and metaphysics. It features contributions from a diverse set of researchers, ranging from senior scholars to junior academics, working in varied fields, from physics to philosophy of physics and metaphysics. The contributors reflect on issues about fundamentality (is quantum theory fundamental? If so, what is its fundamental ontology?), ontological dependence (how do ordinary objects exist even if they are not fundamental?), realism (what kind of realism is compatible with quantum theory?), indeterminacy (can the world itself exhibit ontological indeterminacy?). 

The book contains contributions from both physicists (including Nobel Prize winner Gerard 't Hooft), science communicators andphilosophers. 

Editors and Affiliations

  • Philosophy Department, Northern Illinois University, Naperville, USA

    Valia Allori

About the editor

Valia Allori has studied physics and philosophy first in Italy, her home country, and then in the United States. She has worked in the foundations of quantum mechanics, with the aim of understanding how we can use our best physical theory to answer general metaphysical questions about the nature of reality. She has been a 2017-18 National Humanities Center Fellow and she is a Fellow of the John Bell Institute for the Foundation of Physics. She is currently Professor in the Philosophy Department of Northern Illinois University.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Quantum Mechanics and Fundamentality

  • Book Subtitle: Naturalizing Quantum Theory between Scientific Realism and Ontological Indeterminacy

  • Editors: Valia Allori

  • Series Title: Synthese Library

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99642-0

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-99641-3Published: 28 July 2022

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-99644-4Published: 28 July 2023

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-99642-0Published: 27 July 2022

  • Series ISSN: 0166-6991

  • Series E-ISSN: 2542-8292

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXI, 415

  • Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Philosophy of Science, Quantum Physics, Metaphysics, History of Philosophy, Ontology

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