The Quantum World is not Built up from Correlations

Seevinck, Michael

doi:10.1007/s10701-006-9073-9

Cited by 12 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…13 But if the (A, D) measurements precede the (B, C) measurement, the (A, D) pair never is in any of these states. This is entirely compatible with the fact that evaluating the (A, D) measurements within a certain 11 It has been argued [24] that the phenomenon of entanglement swapping by itself (even without adding the delayed-choice condition with which I will be concerned in the following) calls into question the "ontological robustness" of entanglement. See [27] for a response to this kind of argument.…”

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confidence: 56%

8 Delayed-Choice Experiments and the Metaphysics of Entanglement

2014

Scientific Realism in Particle Physics

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Delayed-choice experiments in quantum mechanics are often taken to undermine a realistic interpretation of the quantum state. More specifically, Healey has recently argued that the phenomenon of delayed-choice entanglement swapping is incompatible with the view that entanglement is a physical relation between quantum systems. This paper argues against these claims. It first reviews two paradigmatic delayed-choice experiments and analyzes their metaphysical implications. It then applies the results of this analysis to the case of entanglement swapping, showing that such experiments pose no threat to realism about entanglement.

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confidence: 56%

8 Delayed-Choice Experiments and the Metaphysics of Entanglement

2014

Scientific Realism in Particle Physics

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“…I think this is quantummechanically quite true. (Seevinck's result [36], contrary to the claim of the author, does not seem to cast a shadow on the reality of quantum correlations, which are experimental facts; instead, it seems to show that they can be global. )…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

On EPR-Type Entanglement in the Experiments of Scully et al. I. The Micromaser Case and Delayed-Choice Quantum Erasure

Herbut

2008

Found Phys

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Delayed-choice erasure is investigated in two-photon two-slit experiments that are generalizations of the micromaser experiment of Scully et al. [Scully, M. O. et al. Nature 351, 111-116 (1991)]. Applying quantum mechanics to the localization detector, it is shown that erasure with delayed choice in the sense of Scully, has an analogous structure as simple erasure. The description goes beyond probabilities. The EPR-type disentanglement, consisting in two mutually incompatible distant measurements, is used as a general framework in both parts of this study. Two simple coherence cases are shown to emerge naturally, and they are precisely the two experiments of Scully et al. The treatment seems to require the relative-reality-of-unitarilyevolving-state (RRUES) approach . Besides insight in the experiments, this study has also the goal of insight in quantum mechanics. The question is if the latter can be more than just a "book-keeping device" for calculating probabilities as Scully et al. modestly and cautiously claim.Keywords Delayed-choice erasure. Distant measurement. EPR-type disentanglement. Detector as quantum-mechanical system. Relative-reality-ofunitarily-evolving-state approach. Relative-state interpretation.

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“…17 Seevinck (2006), in particular, takes certain relatively simple proofs to be sufficient for saying that the correlation between entangled particles is not ontologically 'robust', the latter qualification being taken to encompass impossibility, without interaction, of i) creation, ii) elimination via mixing, iii) flow into some environment upon mixing. It is certainly an interesting question whether or not a strong structuralist-like understanding of relations of the sort Saunders suggests requires ontological robustness so defined.…”

Section: Relations and Relatamentioning

confidence: 99%

Weak Discernibility, Quantum Mechanics and the Generalist Picture

Morganti¹

2008

Facta Philosophica

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Suarez for helpful discussions and valuable comments. 1 See Post (1963) and Adams (1979). As is well-known in the metaphysics literature, this is incompatible with the first alternative because PII cannot take primitive properties of self-identity and numerical distinctness into account, as this would trivialize it as a criterion of individuation.2 objects. In this paper, I analyse Saunders' argument in favour of this conclusion in detail. 2 In section 1, I introduce the 'generalist' perspective endorsed by Saunders and consider its possible justification and philosophical basis; and then look at the Quinean notion of weak discernibility he appeals to. Next, I move on to a consideration of quantum mechanics. First, in section 2, I summarize the established understanding of the way things stand as regards quantum particles and PII; then, in section 3, I evaluate the way in which Saunders intends to employ the concept of weak discernibility with a view to providing an alternative picture for fermions. There, I expand on the criticisms formulated by Hawley (2006) and Dieks and Veerstegh (2008) by explaining in detail what I take to be the basic problem, not entirely made explicit in these papers: that the properties invoked by Saunders cannot be pointed to as 'individuators' of otherwise indiscernible (and thus numerically identical) entities because their ontological status remains underdetermined by the evidence and the established interpretation of the theory. In addition to this, in section 4 I contend that, even if he is granted his conclusions as regards fermions, Saunders does not deal adequately with bosons, and cannot do so because he subscribes to PII and the generalist picture. Section 5 contains a critical examination of the widespread claim (or at least implicit assumption) that the generalist picture should be regarded as obviously compelling by the modern-day empiricist. The generalist picture, weak discernibility, and Black's universeIn his (2003), Saunders endorses what, following O' Leary-Hawthorne and Cover (1996), he calls the 'generalist picture'. This view is a distinctive and uncompromising form of realism, a commitment to the adequacy of purely descriptive concepts (Saunders 2003, pp. 289-290). 3 Matteo Morganti2 Saunders' ideas have been elaborated in more detail and applied more generally by Muller and Saunders (2008). Since the considerations made in this paper apply to the more general framework as well, however, I will only consider Saunders' original paper here. 3 This is intimately connected to the 'semantic universalism' developed by Van Fraassen ((1977-8), (1991). That is, the thesis that all factual descriptions can be given completely in terms of general propositions making no reference to individuals. See also Hintikka's remark that "[e]ach possible world contains a number of individuals with certain properties and with certain relations to each other. We have to use these properties and relations to decide which member (if any) of a given possible world is identical wit...

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The Quantum World is not Built up from Correlations

Cited by 12 publications

References 21 publications

8 Delayed-Choice Experiments and the Metaphysics of Entanglement

8 Delayed-Choice Experiments and the Metaphysics of Entanglement

On EPR-Type Entanglement in the Experiments of Scully et al. I. The Micromaser Case and Delayed-Choice Quantum Erasure

Weak Discernibility, Quantum Mechanics and the Generalist Picture

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