Empirical consequences of the scientific construction: The program of local hidden-variables theories in quantum mechanics [Book Review]

Foundations of Physics 27 (6):765-800 (1997)
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Abstract

We claim that physics has been constructed because three “philosophical” principles have been respected, namely, realism, locality, and consistency. These principles lead to an interpretation of quantum mechanics (QM) in terms of local hidden-variables theories (LHV). In order to prove that LHV have not been refuted, we analyze the empirical proofs of Bell's inequalities and we argue that none is loophole-free. Then we propose a restricted QM that does not contain measurement postulates and that does not claim that all state vectors (self-adjoint operators) are states (observables). The contradiction of such restricted QM with Bell's inequality cannot be shown as a theorem, but only by the design of a loophole-free experiment. Finally, we argue that noise has been underestimated in quantum theory. It does not appear in QM, but it is essential in quantum field theory. We conjecture that noise will prevent the violation of Bell's inequality

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Citations of this work

Bell's theorem and the experiments: Increasing empirical support for local realism?Emilio Santos - 2005 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 36 (3):544-565.
Flat Spacetime Gravitation with a Preferred Foliation.J. B. Pitts & W. C. Schieve - 2001 - Foundations of Physics 31 (7):1083-1104.

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Search for a naturalistic world view.Abner Shimony - 1993 - New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Search for a Naturalistic World View.Abner Shimony - 1997 - Synthese 110 (2):335-342.

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