Cause and Effect in the Pilot-Wave Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

Brown, Harvey R.; Elby, Andrew; Weingard, Robert

doi:10.1007/978-94-015-8715-0_21

Cited by 23 publications

(24 citation statements)

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“…This reading goes against a "generosity" principle advocated by Brown et al (1996), Pylkkänen et al (2014), who plausibly attribute particles some degree of intrinsicality. If the wave function really "embodied" all apparently intrinsic properties of particles, and referred to a global power of the configuration of particles, how could such a global power be considered concrete and not just an abstract property of the configuration?…”

Section: The Second Point Raises Some Questions To Readings Of Bohmiamentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Without assigning localized matter points or particles some kind of intrinsic dispositions (as in Brown et al 1996), to contribute (together with the other particles' disposition) to the emergence of an irreducible holistically power to fix the velocity of any particle in the global configuration, the version of holistic primitive ontology that Esfeld et al (2015) paper defend might become unintelligible. It is for this reason that an ontology of events endowed with intrinsic dispositions but related by irreducible and holistic relations of entanglement seem preferable to an ontology constituted by primitive matter points devoid of any intrinsic powers but kept together so to speak by a holistic disposition.…”

Section: The Second Point Raises Some Questions To Readings Of Bohmiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…dispositions also to particles in Bohmian mechanics (see Brown et al 1996, Esfeld et al 2015. In a word, there is little doubt that an ontology of events is very much at home in the "flashy" version of GRW.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Events and the Ontology of Quantum Mechanics

Dorato¹

2015

Topoi

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In the first part of the paper I argue that an ontology of events is precise, flexible and general enough so as to cover the three main alternative formulations of quantum mechanics as well as theories advocating an antirealistic view of the wave function. Since these formulations advocate a primitive ontology of entities living in four-dimensional spacetime, they are good candidates to connect that quantum image with the manifest image of the world. However, to the extent that some form of realism about the wave function is also necessary, one needs to endorse also the idea that the wave function refers to some kind of power. In the second part, I discuss some difficulties raised by the recent proposal that in Bohmian mechanics this power is holistically possessed by all the particles in the universe.

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Section: The Second Point Raises Some Questions To Readings Of Bohmiamentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: The Second Point Raises Some Questions To Readings Of Bohmiamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Events and the Ontology of Quantum Mechanics

Dorato¹

2015

Topoi

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“…7. It is fair to point out that it has come under some criticism in recent years from metaphysicians, 40 but it is also fair to describe it as virtually a consensus among philosophers, and philosophically inclined workers, in cognitive science and the philosophy of the special sciences. 41 For these reasons we find the attacks on the coherence of the Everettian ontology unpersuasive, committed as they are either to conflict with mainstream views in physics and in general philosophy.…”

Section: Decoherencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…(9) 40 In particular, Jaegwon Kim; see for instance. (37) 41 For a recent review of the debate, see Ross and Spurrett, (38) and the comments on their paper in a forthcoming issue of Behavioral and Brain Sciences.…”

Section: Degrees Of Reality?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Solving the Measurement Problem: De Broglie--Bohm Loses Out to Everett

Brown

Wallace²

2005

Found Phys

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The quantum theory of de Broglie and Bohm solves the measurement problem, but the hypothetical corpuscles play no role in the argument. The solution finds a more natural home in the Everett interpretation.KEY WORDS: De Broglie-Bohm; Everett; measurement; decoherence; consciousness."If the quantum theory is to be able to provide a complete description of everything that can happen in the world . . . it should also be able to describe the process of observation itself in terms of the wave functions of the observing apparatus and those of the system under observation. Furthermore, in principle, it ought to be able to describe the human investigator as he looks at the observing apparatus and learns what the results of the experiment are, this time in terms of the wave functions of the various atoms that make up the investigator, as well as those of the observing apparatus and the system under observation. In other words, the quantum theory could not be regarded as a complete logical system unless it contained within it a prescription in principle for how all these problems were to be dealt with." Bohm (1) , p. 583.

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Scientific Realism Meets Metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics

Saatsi¹

2019

Synthese Library

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I examine the epistemological debate on scientific realism in the context of quantum physics, focusing on the empirical underdetermination of different formulations and interpretations of QM. I will argue that much of the interpretational, metaphysical work on QM transcends the kinds of realist commitments that are well-motivated in the light of the history of science. I sketch a way of demarcating empirically well-confirmed aspects of QM from speculative quantum metaphysics in a way that coheres with anti-realist evidence from the history of science. The minimal realist attitude sketched withholds realist commitment to what quantum state |Ψ represents. I argue that such commitment is not required for fulfilling the ultimate realist motivation: accounting for the empirical success of quantum mechanics in a way that is in tune with a broader understanding of how theoretical science progresses and latches onto reality.

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Cause and Effect in the Pilot-Wave Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

Cited by 23 publications

References 0 publications

Events and the Ontology of Quantum Mechanics

Events and the Ontology of Quantum Mechanics

Solving the Measurement Problem: De Broglie--Bohm Loses Out to Everett

Scientific Realism Meets Metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics

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