Contexts, Systems and Modalities: A New Ontology for Quantum Mechanics

Foundations of Physics 46 (2):121-137 (2016)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

In this article we present a possible way to make usual quantum mechanics fully compatible with physical realism, defined as the statement that the goal of physics is to study entities of the natural world, existing independently from any particular observer’s perception, and obeying universal and intelligible rules. Rather than elaborating on the quantum formalism itself, we propose a new quantum ontology, where physical properties are attributed jointly to the system, and to the context in which it is embedded. In combination with a quantization principle, this non-classical definition of physical reality sheds new light on counter-intuitive features of quantum mechanics such as the origin of probabilities, non-locality, and the quantum-classical boundary

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 96,272

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Quantum Mechanics: Ontology Without Individuals.Newton da Costa & Olimpia Lombardi - 2014 - Foundations of Physics 44 (12):1246-1257.
Quantum information and locality.Dennis Dieks - 2017 - In Olimpia Lombardi, Sebastian Fortin, Federico Holik & Cristian López (eds.), What is Quantum Information? New York, NY: CUP.
Relational EPR.Matteo Smerlak & Carlo Rovelli - 2007 - Foundations of Physics 37 (3):427-445.
Quantum Reality, Perspectivalism and Covariance.Dennis Dieks - 2019 - Foundations of Physics 49 (6):629-646.
The Emerging Quantum: The Physics Behind Quantum Mechanics.Luis de la Peña - 2015 - Cham: Imprint: Springer. Edited by Ana María Cetto & Andrea Valdés Hernández.
Making Sense of Non-Individuals in Quantum Mechanics.Jonas R. B. Arenhart, Otávio Bueno & Décio Krause - forthcoming - In Olimpia Lombardi, Sebastian Fortin, Cristian López & Frederico Holik (eds.), Quantum Worlds. Different Perspectives about the ontology of quantum mechanics. Cambridge University Press.
The Entanglement Structure of Quantum Field Systems.Vincent Lam - 2013 - International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 27 (1):59 - 72.

Analytics

Added to PP
2015-09-21

Downloads
95 (#189,406)

6 months
16 (#279,653)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

References found in this work

The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory: Transl. Into Engl. By Carl Eckart and Frank C. Hoyt.Werner Heisenberg - 1930 - Chicago: Ill., The University of Chicago Press. Edited by Carl Eckart & Frank Clark Hoyt.
Do we really understand quantum mechanics?Franck Laloë - 2012 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Quantum probability theory.Miklós Rédei & Stephen Jeffrey Summers - 2007 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 38 (2):390-417.
On Zurek’s Derivation of the Born Rule.Maximilian Schlosshauer & Arthur Fine - 2005 - Foundations of Physics 35 (2):197-213.

Add more references