Quantum Metaphysics
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An interpretation of quantum mechanics is an attempt to explain how the mathematical theory of quantum mechanics might correspond to experienced reality. Although quantum mechanics has held up to rigorous and extremely precise tests in an extraordinarily broad range of experiments, there exist a number of contending schools of thought over their interpretation. These views on interpretation differ on such fundamental questions as whether quantum mechanics is
deterministic Determinism is a philosophical view, where all events are determined completely by previously existing causes. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes overlapping motives and consi ...
or
stochastic Stochastic (, ) refers to the property of being well described by a random probability distribution. Although stochasticity and randomness are distinct in that the former refers to a modeling approach and the latter refers to phenomena themselv ...
, which elements of quantum mechanics can be considered real, and what the nature of
measurement Measurement is the quantification of attributes of an object or event, which can be used to compare with other objects or events. In other words, measurement is a process of determining how large or small a physical quantity is as compared ...
is, among other matters. Despite nearly a century of debate and experiment, no consensus has been reached among physicists and
philosophers of physics A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek t ...
concerning which interpretation best "represents" reality.


History

The definition of quantum theorists' terms, such as '' wave function'' and '' matrix mechanics'', progressed through many stages. For instance, Erwin Schrödinger originally viewed the electron's wave function as its charge density smeared across space, but
Max Born Max Born (; 11 December 1882 – 5 January 1970) was a German physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a n ...
reinterpreted the absolute square value of the wave function as the electron's probability density distributed across space. The views of several early pioneers of quantum mechanics, such as Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, are often grouped together as the " Copenhagen interpretation", though physicists and historians of physics have argued that this terminology obscures differences between the views so designated. Copenhagen-type ideas were never universally embraced, and challenges to a perceived Copenhagen orthodoxy gained increasing attention in the 1950s with the pilot-wave interpretation of David Bohm and the many-worlds interpretation of Hugh Everett III. The physicist N. David Mermin once quipped, "New interpretations appear every year. None ever disappear." As a rough guide to development of the mainstream view during the 1990s and 2000s, a "snapshot" of opinions was collected in a poll by Schlosshauer et al. at the "Quantum Physics and the Nature of Reality" conference of July 2011. The authors reference a similarly informal poll carried out by Max Tegmark at the "Fundamental Problems in Quantum Theory" conference in August 1997. The main conclusion of the authors is that "the Copenhagen interpretation still reigns supreme", receiving the most votes in their poll (42%), besides the rise to mainstream notability of the
many-worlds interpretations The many-worlds interpretation (MWI) is an interpretation of quantum mechanics that asserts that the universal wavefunction is objectively real, and that there is no wave function collapse. This implies that all possible outcomes of quantum me ...
: "The Copenhagen interpretation still reigns supreme here, especially if we lump it together with intellectual offsprings such as information-based interpretations and the Quantum Bayesian interpretation. In Tegmark's poll, the Everett interpretation received 17% of the vote, which is similar to the number of votes (18%) in our poll." Some concepts originating from studies of interpretations have found more practical application in quantum information science.


Nature

More or less, all interpretations of quantum mechanics share two qualities: # They interpret a '' formalism''—a set of equations and principles to generate predictions via input of initial conditions # They interpret a ''
phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...
''—a set of observations, including those obtained by empirical research and those obtained informally, such as humans' experience of an unequivocal world Two qualities vary among interpretations: # Ontology—claims about what things, such as categories and entities, ''exist'' in the world # Epistemology—claims about the possibility, scope, and means toward relevant ''knowledge'' of the world In philosophy of science, the distinction of knowledge versus reality is termed ''
epistemic Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...
'' versus '' ontic''. A general law is a ''regularity'' of outcomes (epistemic), whereas a causal mechanism may ''regulate'' the outcomes (ontic). A phenomenon can receive interpretation either ontic or epistemic. For instance, indeterminism may be attributed to limitations of human observation and perception (epistemic), or may be explained as a real existing ''maybe'' encoded in the universe (ontic). Confusing the epistemic with the ontic, if for example one were to presume that a general law actually "governs" outcomes—and that the statement of a regularity has the role of a causal mechanism—is a category mistake. In a broad sense, scientific theory can be viewed as offering scientific realism—approximately true description or explanation of the natural world—or might be perceived with antirealism. A realist stance seeks the epistemic and the ontic, whereas an antirealist stance seeks epistemic but not the ontic. In the 20th century's first half, antirealism was mainly
logical positivism Logical positivism, later called logical empiricism, and both of which together are also known as neopositivism, is a movement in Western philosophy whose central thesis was the verification principle (also known as the verifiability criterion o ...
, which sought to exclude unobservable aspects of reality from scientific theory. Since the 1950s, antirealism is more modest, usually instrumentalism, permitting talk of unobservable aspects, but ultimately discarding the very question of realism and posing scientific theory as a tool to help humans make predictions, not to attain metaphysical understanding of the world. The instrumentalist view is carried by the famous quote of
David Mermin Nathaniel David Mermin (; born 30 March 1935) is a solid-state physicist at Cornell University best known for the eponymous Mermin–Wagner theorem, his application of the term " boojum" to superfluidity, his textbook with Neil Ashcroft on solid ...
, "Shut up and calculate", often misattributed to Richard Feynman. Other approaches to resolve conceptual problems introduce new mathematical formalism, and so propose alternative theories with their interpretations. An example is Bohmian mechanics, whose empirical equivalence with the three standard formalisms— Schrödinger's wave mechanics,
Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a breakthrough paper. In the subsequent series ...
's matrix mechanics, and
Feynman Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superflu ...
's
path integral formalism The path integral formulation is a description in quantum mechanics that generalizes the action principle of classical mechanics. It replaces the classical notion of a single, unique classical trajectory for a system with a sum, or functional in ...
—has been demonstrated.


Interpretive challenges

# Abstract, mathematical nature of
quantum field theories In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines classical field theory, special relativity, and quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct physical models of subatomic particles ...
: the mathematical structure of quantum mechanics is abstract without clear interpretation of its quantities. # Existence of apparently
indeterministic Indeterminism is the idea that events (or certain events, or events of certain types) are not caused, or do not cause deterministically. It is the opposite of determinism and related to chance. It is highly relevant to the philosophical probl ...
and irreversible processes: in
classical field theory A classical field theory is a physical theory that predicts how one or more physical fields interact with matter through field equations, without considering effects of quantization; theories that incorporate quantum mechanics are called quantum ...
, a physical property at a given location in the field is readily derived. In most mathematical formulations of quantum mechanics, measurement is given a special role in the theory, as it is the sole process that can cause a nonunitary, irreversible evolution of the state. # Role of the observer in determining outcomes: the Copenhagen-type interpretations imply that the wavefunction is a calculational tool, and represents reality only immediately after a measurement, perhaps performed by an observer; Everettian interpretations grant that all the possibilities can be real, and that the process of measurement-type interactions cause an effective branching process. # Classically unexpected correlations between remote objects: entangled quantum systems, as illustrated in the EPR paradox, obey statistics that seem to violate principles of local causality. # Complementarity of proffered descriptions: complementarity holds that no set of classical physical concepts can simultaneously refer to all properties of a quantum system. For instance, wave description ''A'' and particulate description ''B'' can each describe quantum system ''S'', but not simultaneously. This implies the composition of physical properties of ''S'' does not obey the rules of classical propositional logic when using propositional connectives (see "
Quantum logic In the mathematical study of logic and the physical analysis of quantum foundations, quantum logic is a set of rules for manipulation of propositions inspired by the structure of quantum theory. The field takes as its starting point an observat ...
"). Like contextuality, the "origin of complementarity lies in the
non-commutativity In mathematics, a binary operation is commutative if changing the order of the operands does not change the result. It is a fundamental property of many binary operations, and many mathematical proofs depend on it. Most familiar as the name of ...
of operators" that describe quantum objects (Omnès 1999). # Rapidly rising intricacy, far exceeding humans' present calculational capacity, as a system's size increases: since the state space of a quantum system is exponential in the number of subsystems, it is difficult to derive classical approximations. # Contextual behaviour of systems locally:
Quantum contextuality Quantum contextuality is a feature of the Phenomenology (physics), phenomenology of quantum mechanics whereby measurements of quantum observables cannot simply be thought of as revealing pre-existing values. Any attempt to do so in a realistic hid ...
demonstrates that classical intuitions, in which properties of a system hold definite values independent of the manner of their measurement, fail even for local systems. Also, physical principles such as Leibniz's Principle of the identity of indiscernibles no longer apply in the quantum domain, signalling that most classical intuitions may be incorrect about the quantum world.


Influential interpretations


Copenhagen interpretation

The Copenhagen interpretation is a collection of views about the meaning of quantum mechanics principally attributed to Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. It is one of the oldest attitudes towards quantum mechanics, as features of it date to the development of quantum mechanics during 1925–1927, and it remains one of the most commonly taught. There is no definitive historical statement of what is ''the'' Copenhagen interpretation, and there were in particular fundamental disagreements between the views of Bohr and Heisenberg. For example, Heisenberg emphasized a sharp "cut" between the observer (or the instrument) and the system being observed, while Bohr offered an interpretation that is independent of a subjective observer or measurement or collapse, which relies on an "irreversible" or effectively irreversible process which imparts the classical behavior of "observation" or "measurement". Features common to Copenhagen-type interpretations include the idea that quantum mechanics is intrinsically indeterministic, with probabilities calculated using the Born rule, and the principle of complementarity, which states that objects have certain pairs of complementary properties which cannot all be observed or measured simultaneously. Moreover, the act of "observing" or "measuring" an object is irreversible, no truth can be attributed to an object except according to the results of its measurement. Copenhagen-type interpretations hold that quantum descriptions are objective, in that they are independent of physicists' mental arbitrariness. The statistical interpretation of wavefunctions due to Max Born differs sharply from Schrödinger's original intent, which was to have a theory with continuous time evolution and in which wavefunctions directly described physical reality.


Many worlds

The many-worlds interpretation is an interpretation of quantum mechanics in which a universal wavefunction obeys the same deterministic, reversible laws at all times; in particular there is no (indeterministic and
irreversible Irreversible may refer to: * Irreversible process, in thermodynamics, a process that is not reversible *'' Irréversible'', a 2002 film * ''Irréversible'' (soundtrack), soundtrack to the film ''Irréversible'' * An album recorded by hip-hop artis ...
) wavefunction collapse associated with measurement. The phenomena associated with measurement are claimed to be explained by decoherence, which occurs when states interact with the environment. More precisely, the parts of the wavefunction describing observers become increasingly entangled with the parts of the wavefunction describing their experiments. Although all possible outcomes of experiments continue to lie in the wavefunction's support, the times at which they become correlated with observers effectively "split" the universe into mutually unobservable alternate histories.


Quantum information theories

Quantum informational approaches have attracted growing support. They subdivide into two kinds. * Information ontologies, such as J. A. Wheeler's " it from bit". These approaches have been described as a revival of
immaterialism Subjective idealism, or empirical idealism, is a form of philosophical monism that holds that only minds and mental contents exist. It entails and is generally identified or associated with immaterialism, the doctrine that material things do no ...
. * Interpretations where quantum mechanics is said to describe an observer's knowledge of the world, rather than the world itself. This approach has some similarity with Bohr's thinking. Collapse (also known as reduction) is often interpreted as an observer acquiring information from a measurement, rather than as an objective event. These approaches have been appraised as similar to instrumentalism. James Hartle writes,
The state is not an objective property of an individual system but is that information, obtained from a knowledge of how a system was prepared, which can be used for making predictions about future measurements. ...A quantum mechanical state being a summary of the observer's information about an individual physical system changes both by dynamical laws, and whenever the observer acquires new information about the system through the process of measurement. The existence of two laws for the evolution of the state vector...becomes problematical only if it is believed that the state vector is an objective property of the system...The "reduction of the wavepacket" does take place in the consciousness of the observer, not because of any unique physical process which takes place there, but only because the state is a construct of the observer and not an objective property of the physical system.


Relational quantum mechanics

The essential idea behind
relational quantum mechanics :''This article is intended for those already familiar with quantum mechanics and its attendant interpretational difficulties. Readers who are new to the subject may first want to read the introduction to quantum mechanics.'' Relational quantum m ...
, following the precedent of special relativity, is that different observers may give different accounts of the same series of events: for example, to one observer at a given point in time, a system may be in a single, "collapsed"
eigenstate In quantum physics, a quantum state is a mathematical entity that provides a probability distribution for the outcomes of each possible measurement on a system. Knowledge of the quantum state together with the rules for the system's evolution in t ...
, while to another observer at the same time, it may be in a superposition of two or more states. Consequently, if quantum mechanics is to be a complete theory, relational quantum mechanics argues that the notion of "state" describes not the observed system itself, but the relationship, or correlation, between the system and its observer(s). The state vector of conventional quantum mechanics becomes a description of the correlation of some ''degrees of freedom'' in the observer, with respect to the observed system. However, it is held by relational quantum mechanics that this applies to all physical objects, whether or not they are conscious or macroscopic. Any "measurement event" is seen simply as an ordinary physical interaction, an establishment of the sort of correlation discussed above. Thus the physical content of the theory has to do not with objects themselves, but the relations between them.


QBism

QBism In physics and the philosophy of physics, quantum Bayesianism is a collection of related approaches to the interpretation of quantum mechanics, of which the most prominent is QBism (pronounced "cubism"). QBism is an interpretation that takes an a ...
, which originally stood for "quantum Bayesianism", is an interpretation of quantum mechanics that takes an agent's actions and experiences as the central concerns of the theory. This interpretation is distinguished by its use of a subjective Bayesian account of probabilities to understand the quantum mechanical Born rule as a normative addition to good decision-making. QBism draws from the fields of quantum information and Bayesian probability and aims to eliminate the interpretational conundrums that have beset quantum theory. QBism deals with common questions in the interpretation of quantum theory about the nature of wavefunction superposition, quantum measurement, and entanglement. According to QBism, many, but not all, aspects of the quantum formalism are subjective in nature. For example, in this interpretation, a quantum state is not an element of reality—instead it represents the degrees of belief an agent has about the possible outcomes of measurements. For this reason, some philosophers of science have deemed QBism a form of anti-realism. The originators of the interpretation disagree with this characterization, proposing instead that the theory more properly aligns with a kind of realism they call "participatory realism", wherein reality consists of ''more'' than can be captured by any putative third-person account of it.


Consistent histories

The
consistent histories In quantum mechanics, the consistent histories (also referred to as decoherent histories) approach is intended to give a modern interpretation of quantum mechanics, generalising the conventional Copenhagen interpretation and providing a natural i ...
interpretation generalizes the conventional Copenhagen interpretation and attempts to provide a natural interpretation of
quantum cosmology Quantum cosmology is the attempt in theoretical physics to develop a quantum theory of the universe. This approach attempts to answer open questions of classical physical cosmology, particularly those related to the first phases of the universe. ...
. The theory is based on a consistency criterion that allows the history of a system to be described so that the probabilities for each history obey the additive rules of classical probability. It is claimed to be consistent with the Schrödinger equation. According to this interpretation, the purpose of a quantum-mechanical theory is to predict the relative probabilities of various alternative histories (for example, of a particle).


Ensemble interpretation

The
ensemble interpretation The ensemble interpretation of quantum mechanics considers the quantum state description to apply only to an ensemble of similarly prepared systems, rather than supposing that it exhaustively represents an individual physical system. The advocate ...
, also called the statistical interpretation, can be viewed as a minimalist interpretation. That is, it claims to make the fewest assumptions associated with the standard mathematics. It takes the statistical interpretation of Born to the fullest extent. The interpretation states that the wave function does not apply to an individual systemfor example, a single particlebut is an abstract statistical quantity that only applies to an ensemble (a vast multitude) of similarly prepared systems or particles. In the words of Einstein: The most prominent current advocate of the ensemble interpretation is Leslie E. Ballentine, professor at Simon Fraser University, author of the text book ''Quantum Mechanics, A Modern Development''.


De Broglie–Bohm theory

The
de Broglie–Bohm theory The de Broglie–Bohm theory, also known as the ''pilot wave theory'', Bohmian mechanics, Bohm's interpretation, and the causal interpretation, is an interpretation of quantum mechanics. In addition to the wavefunction, it also postulates an act ...
of quantum mechanics (also known as the pilot wave theory) is a theory by Louis de Broglie and extended later by David Bohm to include measurements. Particles, which always have positions, are guided by the wavefunction. The wavefunction evolves according to the Schrödinger wave equation, and the wavefunction never collapses. The theory takes place in a single spacetime, is non-local, and is deterministic. The simultaneous determination of a particle's position and velocity is subject to the usual uncertainty principle constraint. The theory is considered to be a
hidden-variable theory In physics, hidden-variable theories are proposals to provide explanations of quantum mechanical phenomena through the introduction of (possibly unobservable) hypothetical entities. The existence of fundamental indeterminacy for some measurem ...
, and by embracing non-locality it satisfies Bell's inequality. The measurement problem is resolved, since the particles have definite positions at all times. Collapse is explained as
phenomenological Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...
. Also published in


Quantum Darwinism

Quantum Darwinism is a theory meant to explain the emergence of the classical world from the quantum world as due to a process of Darwinian natural selection induced by the environment interacting with the quantum system; where the many possible
quantum states In quantum physics, a quantum state is a mathematical entity that provides a probability distribution for the outcomes of each possible measurement in quantum mechanics, measurement on a system. Knowledge of the quantum state together with the rul ...
are selected against in favor of a stable
pointer state In quantum Darwinism and similar theories, pointer states are quantum states, sometimes of a measuring apparatus, if present, that are less perturbed by decoherence than other states, and are the quantum equivalents of the classical states of the sy ...
. It was proposed in 2003 by
Wojciech Zurek Wojciech Hubert Zurek ( pl, Żurek; born 1951) is a theoretical physicist and a leading authority on quantum theory, especially decoherence and non-equilibrium dynamics of symmetry breaking and resulting defect generation (known as the Kibble–Zu ...
and a group of collaborators including Ollivier, Poulin, Paz and Blume-Kohout. The development of the theory is due to the integration of a number of Zurek's research topics pursued over the course of twenty-five years including:
pointer state In quantum Darwinism and similar theories, pointer states are quantum states, sometimes of a measuring apparatus, if present, that are less perturbed by decoherence than other states, and are the quantum equivalents of the classical states of the sy ...
s,
einselection In quantum mechanics, einselections, short for "environment-induced superselection", is a name coined by Wojciech H. Zurek for a process which is claimed to explain the appearance of wavefunction collapse and the emergence of classical descripti ...
and decoherence.


Transactional interpretation

The transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics (TIQM) by
John G. Cramer John Gleason Cramer, Jr. (born October 24, 1934) is a Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, known for his development of the Transactional Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. He has been an activ ...
is an interpretation of quantum mechanics inspired by the Wheeler–Feynman absorber theory. It describes the collapse of the wave function as resulting from a time-symmetric transaction between a possibility wave from the source to the receiver (the wave function) and a possibility wave from the receiver to source (the complex conjugate of the wave function). This interpretation of quantum mechanics is unique in that it not only views the wave function as a real entity, but the complex conjugate of the wave function, which appears in the Born rule for calculating the expected value for an observable, as also real.


Objective-collapse theories

Objective-collapse theories differ from the Copenhagen interpretation by regarding both the wave function and the process of collapse as ontologically objective (meaning these exist and occur independent of the observer). In objective theories, collapse occurs either randomly ("spontaneous localization") or when some physical threshold is reached, with observers having no special role. Thus, objective-collapse theories are realistic, indeterministic, no-hidden-variables theories. Standard quantum mechanics does not specify any mechanism of collapse; QM would need to be extended if objective collapse is correct. The requirement for an extension to QM means that objective collapse is more of a theory than an interpretation. Examples include * the Ghirardi–Rimini–Weber theory * the
continuous spontaneous localization model The continuous spontaneous localization (CSL) model is a spontaneous collapse model in quantum mechanics, proposed in 1989 by Philip Pearle. and finalized in 1990 Gian Carlo Ghirardi, Philip Pearle and Alberto Rimini. Introduction The most wid ...
* the Penrose interpretation


Von Neumann–Wigner interpretation

In his treatise ''The Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics'', John von Neumann deeply analyzed the so-called measurement problem. He concluded that the entire physical universe could be made subject to the Schrödinger equation (the universal wave function). He also described how measurement could cause a collapse of the wave function. This point of view was prominently expanded on by Eugene Wigner, who argued that human experimenter consciousness (or maybe even dog consciousness) was critical for the collapse, but he later abandoned this interpretation.


Quantum logic

Quantum logic In the mathematical study of logic and the physical analysis of quantum foundations, quantum logic is a set of rules for manipulation of propositions inspired by the structure of quantum theory. The field takes as its starting point an observat ...
can be regarded as a kind of propositional logic suitable for understanding the apparent anomalies regarding quantum measurement, most notably those concerning composition of measurement operations of complementary variables. This research area and its name originated in the 1936 paper by Garrett Birkhoff and John von Neumann, who attempted to reconcile some of the apparent inconsistencies of classical boolean logic with the facts related to measurement and observation in quantum mechanics.


Modal interpretations of quantum theory

Modal interpretations of quantum mechanics were first conceived of in 1972 by Bas van Fraassen, in his paper "A formal approach to the philosophy of science". Van Fraassen introduced a distinction between a ''dynamical'' state, which describes what might be true about a system and which always evolves according to the Schrödinger equation, and a ''value'' state, which indicates what is actually true about a system at a given time. The term "modal interpretation" now is used to describe a larger set of models that grew out of this approach. The ''
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''SEP'') combines an online encyclopedia of philosophy with peer-reviewed publication of original papers in philosophy, freely accessible to Internet users. It is maintained by Stanford University. Eac ...
'' describes several versions, including proposals by Kochen, Dieks, Clifton, Dickson, and Bub. According to
Michel Bitbol Michel Bitbol (born March 12, 1954) is a French researcher in philosophy of science. He is "Directeur de recherche" at CNRS, previously in the Centre de Recherche en Epistémologie Appliquée (CREA) of École polytechnique (Paris, France). H ...
, Schrödinger's views on how to interpret quantum mechanics progressed through as many as four stages, ending with a non-collapse view that in respects resembles the interpretations of Everett and van Fraassen. Because Schrödinger subscribed to a kind of post-
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neutral monism, in which "matter" and "mind" are only different aspects or arrangements of the same common elements, treating the wavefunction as ontic and treating it as epistemic became interchangeable.


Time-symmetric theories

Time-symmetric interpretations of quantum mechanics were first suggested by
Walter Schottky Walter Hans Schottky (23 July 1886 – 4 March 1976) was a German physicist who played a major early role in developing the theory of electron and ion emission phenomena, invented the screen-grid vacuum tube in 1915 while working at Siemens, ...
in 1921. Several theories have been proposed which modify the equations of quantum mechanics to be symmetric with respect to time reversal. (See Wheeler–Feynman time-symmetric theory.) This creates retrocausality: events in the future can affect ones in the past, exactly as events in the past can affect ones in the future. In these theories, a single measurement cannot fully determine the state of a system (making them a type of
hidden-variables theory In physics, hidden-variable theories are proposals to provide explanations of quantum mechanical phenomena through the introduction of (possibly unobservable) hypothetical entities. The existence of fundamental indeterminacy for some measure ...
), but given two measurements performed at different times, it is possible to calculate the exact state of the system at all intermediate times. The collapse of the wavefunction is therefore not a physical change to the system, just a change in our knowledge of it due to the second measurement. Similarly, they explain entanglement as not being a true physical state but just an illusion created by ignoring retrocausality. The point where two particles appear to "become entangled" is simply a point where each particle is being influenced by events that occur to the other particle in the future. Not all advocates of time-symmetric causality favour modifying the unitary dynamics of standard quantum mechanics. Thus a leading exponent of the two-state vector formalism,
Lev Vaidman Lev Vaidman (born 4 September 1955) is a Russian-Israeli physicist and Professor at Tel Aviv University, Israel. He is noted for his theoretical work in the area of fundamentals of quantum mechanics, which includes quantum teleportation, the Elit ...
, states that the two-state vector formalism dovetails well with Hugh Everett's many-worlds interpretation.


Other interpretations

As well as the mainstream interpretations discussed above, a number of other interpretations have been proposed which have not made a significant scientific impact for whatever reason. These range from proposals by mainstream physicists to the more
occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
ideas of quantum mysticism.


Comparisons

The most common interpretations are summarized in the table below. The values shown in the cells of the table are not without controversy, for the precise meanings of some of the concepts involved are unclear and, in fact, are themselves at the center of the controversy surrounding the given interpretation. For another table comparing interpretations of quantum theory, see reference. No experimental evidence exists that distinguishes among these interpretations. To that extent, the physical theory stands, and is consistent with itself and with reality; difficulties arise only when one attempts to "interpret" the theory. Nevertheless, designing experiments which would test the various interpretations is the subject of active research. Most of these interpretations have variants. For example, it is difficult to get a precise definition of the Copenhagen interpretation as it was developed and argued about by many people.


The silent approach

Although interpretational opinions are openly and widely discussed today, that was not always the case. A notable exponent of a tendency of silence was Paul Dirac who once wrote: "The interpretation of quantum mechanics has been dealt with by many authors, and I do not want to discuss it here. I want to deal with more fundamental things." This position is not uncommon among practitioners of quantum mechanics. Others, like Nico van Kampen and Willis Lamb, have openly criticized non-orthodox interpretations of quantum mechanics.Lamb, W. E. (2001). "Super classical quantum mechanics: the best interpretation of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics". Am. J. Phys. 69: 413-421.


See also

*
Afshar experiment The Afshar experiment is a variation of the double-slit experiment in quantum mechanics, devised and carried out by Shahriar Afshar while at the private, Boston-based Institute for Radiation-Induced Mass Studies (IRIMS). The results were presente ...
*
Bohr–Einstein debates The Bohr–Einstein debates were a series of public disputes about quantum mechanics between Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr. Their debates are remembered because of their importance to the philosophy of science, since the disagreements and the ou ...
* Einstein's thought experiments *
Glossary of quantum philosophy This is a glossary for the terminology applied in the foundations of quantum mechanics and quantum metaphysics, collectively called ''quantum philosophy'', a subfield of philosophy of physics. Note that this is a highly debated field, hence differ ...
*
Local hidden-variable theory In the interpretation of quantum mechanics, a local hidden-variable theory is a hidden-variable theory that satisfies the condition of being consistent with local realism. This includes all types of the theory that attempt to account for the proba ...
* Macroscopic quantum phenomena * Path integral formulation * Philosophical interpretation of classical physics *
Popper's experiment Popper's experiment is an experiment proposed by the philosopher Karl Popper to put to the test different interpretations of quantum mechanics (QM). In fact, as early as 1934, Popper started criticising the increasingly more accepted Copenhagen i ...
*
Superdeterminism In quantum mechanics, superdeterminism is a loophole in Bell's theorem. By postulating that all systems being measured are correlated with the choices of which measurements to make on them, the assumptions of the theorem are no longer fulfilled. ...
*
Quantum foundations Quantum foundations is a discipline of science that seeks to understand the most counter-intuitive aspects of quantum theory, reformulate it and even propose new generalizations thereof. Contrary to other physical theories, such as general relati ...
*
Quantum gravity Quantum gravity (QG) is a field of theoretical physics that seeks to describe gravity according to the principles of quantum mechanics; it deals with environments in which neither gravitational nor quantum effects can be ignored, such as in the vi ...
* Quantum Zeno effect


References


Sources

* *
Rudolf Carnap Rudolf Carnap (; ; 18 May 1891 – 14 September 1970) was a German-language philosopher who was active in Europe before 1935 and in the United States thereafter. He was a major member of the Vienna Circle and an advocate of logical positivism. He ...
, 1939, "The interpretation of physics", in ''Foundations of Logic and Mathematics'' of the '' International Encyclopedia of Unified Science''. University of Chicago Press. * Dickson, M., 1994, "Wavefunction tails in the modal interpretation" in Hull, D., Forbes, M., and Burian, R., eds., ''Proceedings of the PSA'' 1" 366–76. East Lansing, Michigan: Philosophy of Science Association. * --------, and Clifton, R., 1998, "Lorentz-invariance in modal interpretations" in Dieks, D. and Vermaas, P., eds., ''The Modal Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics''. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers: 9–48. * Fuchs, Christopher, 2002, "Quantum Mechanics as Quantum Information (and only a little more)". * -------- and A. Peres, 2000, "Quantum theory needs no 'interpretation, ''Physics Today''. * Herbert, N., 1985. ''Quantum Reality: Beyond the New Physics''. New York: Doubleday. . * Hey, Anthony, and Walters, P., 2003. ''The New Quantum Universe'', 2nd ed. Cambridge Univ. Press. . * *
Max Jammer Max Jammer (מקס ימר; born Moshe Jammer, ; April 13, 1915 – December 18, 2010), was an Israeli physicist and philosopher of physics. He was born in Berlin, Germany. He was Rector and Acting President at Bar-Ilan University from 1967 to 1 ...
, 1966. ''The Conceptual Development of Quantum Mechanics''. McGraw-Hill. * --------, 1974. ''The Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics''. Wiley & Sons. * Al-Khalili, 2003. ''Quantum: A Guide for the Perplexed''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. * de Muynck, W. M., 2002. ''Foundations of quantum mechanics, an empiricist approach''. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. . *
Roland Omnès Roland Omnès (born 18 February 1931), is the author of several books which aim to give non-scientists the information required to understand quantum mechanics from an everyday standpoint. Biography Omnès is currently Professor Emeritus of Th ...
, 1999. ''Understanding Quantum Mechanics''. Princeton Univ. Press. *
Karl Popper Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian-British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the cl ...
, 1963. ''Conjectures and Refutations''. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. The chapter "Three views Concerning Human Knowledge" addresses, among other things, instrumentalism in the physical sciences. *
Hans Reichenbach Hans Reichenbach (September 26, 1891 – April 9, 1953) was a leading philosopher of science, educator, and proponent of logical empiricism. He was influential in the areas of science, education, and of logical empiricism. He founded the ''Gesel ...
, 1944. ''Philosophic Foundations of Quantum Mechanics''. Univ. of California Press. * * Bas van Fraassen, 1972, "A formal approach to the philosophy of science", in R. Colodny, ed., ''Paradigms and Paradoxes: The Philosophical Challenge of the Quantum Domain''. Univ. of Pittsburgh Press: 303–66. *
John A. Wheeler John Archibald Wheeler (July 9, 1911April 13, 2008) was an American theoretical physicist. He was largely responsible for reviving interest in general relativity in the United States after World War II. Wheeler also worked with Niels Bohr in e ...
and Wojciech Hubert Zurek (eds), ''Quantum Theory and Measurement'', Princeton: Princeton University Press, , LoC QC174.125.Q38 1983.


Further reading

Almost all authors below are professional physicists. *
David Z Albert David Z. Albert (born 1954) is Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy and Director of the MA Program in The Philosophical Foundations of Physics at Columbia University in New York. Education and career He received his bachelor's degree ...
, 1992. ''Quantum Mechanics and Experience''. Harvard Univ. Press. . *
John S. Bell John Stewart Bell FRS (28 July 1928 – 1 October 1990) was a physicist from Northern Ireland and the originator of Bell's theorem, an important theorem in quantum physics regarding hidden-variable theories. In 2022, the Nobel Prize in Ph ...
, 1987. ''Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics''. Cambridge Univ. Press, . The 2004 edition () includes two additional papers and an introduction by Alain Aspect. * Dmitrii Ivanovich Blokhintsev, 1968. ''The Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics''. D. Reidel Publishing Company. . * David Bohm, 1980. ''Wholeness and the Implicate Order''. London: Routledge. . * * David Deutsch, 1997. ''
The Fabric of Reality ''The Fabric of Reality'' is a 1997 book by physicist David Deutsch. His follow-up book, ''The Beginning of Infinity'', was published in 2011. Overview The book expands on his views of quantum mechanics and its implications for understanding re ...
''. London: Allen Lane. ; . Argues forcefully ''against'' instrumentalism. For general readers. * Provides a ''pragmatic'' perspective on interpretations. For general readers. * Bernard d'Espagnat, 1976. ''Conceptual Foundation of Quantum Mechanics'', 2nd ed. Addison Wesley. . * Bernard d'Espagnat, 1983. ''In Search of Reality''. Springer. . * Bernard d'Espagnat, 2003. ''Veiled Reality: An Analysis of Quantum Mechanical Concepts''. Westview Press. * Bernard d'Espagnat, 2006. ''On Physics and Philosophy''. Princeton Univ. Press. *
Arthur Fine Arthur Isadore Fine (born November 11, 1937) is an American philosopher of science now emeritus at the University of Washington. Education and career Having studied physics, philosophy, and mathematics, Fine graduated from the University of Chi ...
, 1986. ''The Shaky Game: Einstein Realism and the Quantum Theory. Science and its Conceptual Foundations''. Univ. of Chicago Press. . * Ghirardi, Giancarlo, 2004. ''Sneaking a Look at God's Cards''. Princeton Univ. Press. *
Gregg Jaeger Gregg may refer to: Places * Gregg, California, United States, an unincorporated community * Gregg, Missouri, United States, an unincorporated community * Gregg County, Texas, United States * Gregg River, Alberta, Canada * Gregg Seamount, Atlantic ...
(2009
''Entanglement, Information, and the Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics''.
Springer. . * N. David Mermin (1990)
Boojums all the way through.
' Cambridge Univ. Press. . *
Roland Omnès Roland Omnès (born 18 February 1931), is the author of several books which aim to give non-scientists the information required to understand quantum mechanics from an everyday standpoint. Biography Omnès is currently Professor Emeritus of Th ...
, 1994. ''The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics''. Princeton Univ. Press. . *
Roland Omnès Roland Omnès (born 18 February 1931), is the author of several books which aim to give non-scientists the information required to understand quantum mechanics from an everyday standpoint. Biography Omnès is currently Professor Emeritus of Th ...
, 1999. ''Understanding Quantum Mechanics''. Princeton Univ. Press. *
Roland Omnès Roland Omnès (born 18 February 1931), is the author of several books which aim to give non-scientists the information required to understand quantum mechanics from an everyday standpoint. Biography Omnès is currently Professor Emeritus of Th ...
, 1999. ''
Quantum Philosophy ''Quantum Philosophy'' is a 2002 book by the physicist Roland Omnès, in which he aims to show the non-specialist reader how modern developments in quantum mechanics allow the recovery of our common sense view of the world. Book contents * Se ...
: Understanding and Interpreting Contemporary Science''. Princeton Univ. Press. *
Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, philosopher of science and Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, an emeritus fello ...
, 1989. ''
The Emperor's New Mind ''The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds and The Laws of Physics'' is a 1989 book by the mathematical physicist Sir Roger Penrose. Penrose argues that human consciousness is non-algorithmic, and thus is not capable of being modeled ...
''. Oxford Univ. Press. . Especially chpt. 6. *
Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, philosopher of science and Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, an emeritus fello ...
, 1994. ''
Shadows of the Mind ''Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness'' is a 1994 book by mathematical physicist Roger Penrose that serves as a followup to his 1989 book '' The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds and The Laws of ...
''. Oxford Univ. Press. . *
Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, philosopher of science and Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, an emeritus fello ...
, 2004. '' The Road to Reality''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Argues that quantum theory is incomplete. * Lee Phillips, 2017.
A brief history of quantum alternatives
'. Ars Technica. *


External links

* ''
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''SEP'') combines an online encyclopedia of philosophy with peer-reviewed publication of original papers in philosophy, freely accessible to Internet users. It is maintained by Stanford University. Eac ...
'': **
Bohmian mechanics
by Sheldon Goldstein. **
Collapse Theories.
by Giancarlo Ghirardi. **
Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
by
Jan Faye Jan Faye is a Danish philosopher of science and metaphysics. He is currently associate professor in philosophy at the University of Copenhagen. Faye has contributed to a number of areas in philosophy including explanation, interpretation, philosop ...
. **
Everett's Relative State Formulation of Quantum Mechanics
by Jeffrey Barrett. **
Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
by
Lev Vaidman Lev Vaidman (born 4 September 1955) is a Russian-Israeli physicist and Professor at Tel Aviv University, Israel. He is noted for his theoretical work in the area of fundamentals of quantum mechanics, which includes quantum teleportation, the Elit ...
. **
Modal Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
by Michael Dickson and Dennis Dieks. **
Philosophical Issues in Quantum Theory
by Wayne Myrvold. **
Quantum-Bayesian and Pragmatist Views of Quantum Theory
by Richard Healey. **
Quantum Entanglement and Information
by
Jeffrey Bub Jeffrey Bub (born 1942) is a physicist and philosopher of physics, and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Philosophy, the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science, and the Institute for Physical Science and Technology a ...
. **
Quantum mechanics
by Jenann Ismael. **
Quantum Logic and Probability Theory
by Alexander Wilce. **
Relational Quantum Mechanics
by Federico Laudisa and
Carlo Rovelli Carlo Rovelli (born May 3, 1956) is an Italian theoretical physicist and writer who has worked in Italy, the United States and, since 2000, in France. He is also currently a Distinguished Visiting Research Chair at the Perimeter Institute, and c ...
. **
The Role of Decoherence in Quantum Mechanics
by Guido Bacciagaluppi. * ''
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''IEP'') is a scholarly online encyclopedia, dealing with philosophy, philosophical topics, and philosophers. The IEP combines open access publication with peer reviewed publication of original pape ...
'': *
Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics
by Peter J. Lewis. *
Everettian Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics
by Christina Conroy. {{Quantum mechanics topics Phenomenology Epistemology Philosophy of physics Philosophical debates Reality