Quantum Decoherence in a Pragmatist View: Dispelling Feynman’s Mystery [Book Review]

Foundations of Physics 42 (12):1534-1555 (2012)
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Abstract

The quantum theory of decoherence plays an important role in a pragmatist interpretation of quantum theory. It governs the descriptive content of claims about values of physical magnitudes and offers advice on when to use quantum probabilities as a guide to their truth. The content of a claim is to be understood in terms of its role in inferences. This promises a better treatment of meaning than that offered by Bohr. Quantum theory models physical systems with no mention of measurement: it is decoherence, not measurement, that licenses application of Born’s probability rule. So quantum theory also offers advice on its own application. I show how this works in a simple model of decoherence, and then in applications to both laboratory experiments and natural systems. Applications to quantum field theory and the measurement problem will be discussed elsewhere

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Richard Andrew Healey
University of Arizona

Citations of this work

How Quantum Theory Helps Us Explain.Richard A. Healey - 2015 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 66 (1):1-43.
Quantum States as Objective Informational Bridges.Richard Healey - 2017 - Foundations of Physics 47 (2):161-173.
Causality and chance in relativistic quantum field theories.Richard A. Healey - 2014 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 48 (2):156-167.

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