The Virtues of Separability and Locality

2021 ◽  
pp. 80-132
Author(s):  
Alyssa Ney
Keyword(s):  
Wave Function ◽  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Bell’S Theorem ◽  
Bell's Theorem ◽  
Quantum Theories ◽  
Interpretations Of Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Realist Interpretation ◽  
Quantum Interpretation ◽  
Wave Function Realism

This chapter presents the argument for wave function realism that it is the only realist interpretation of quantum theories that can maintain a fundamentally separable and local metaphysics. It is commonly seen as a consequence of entanglement and Bell’s Theorem that quantum mechanics entails quantum nonseparability and nonlocality. Yet although all rival realist ontological interpretations of quantum mechanics involve either a nonseparable or a nonlocal fundamental metaphysics, the metaphysics of wave function realism is fundamentally both separable and local, although the view also makes room for nonfundamental nonseparability and nonlocality. The chapter considers several arguments that could explain why one should prefer interpretations of quantum theories that are separable and local, and concludes with a defense of intuitions in quantum interpretation.

Wave Function Realism in a Relativistic Setting

2020 ◽  
pp. 154-168
Author(s):  
Alyssa Ney
Keyword(s):  
Wave Function ◽  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Relativistic Quantum ◽  
Higher Dimensions ◽  
Recent Criticism ◽  
Interpretation Of Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Quantum Theories ◽  
Realist Interpretation ◽  
Wave Function Realism

The purpose of the present chapter is to respond to a thread of recent criticism against one candidate framework for interpreting quantum theories, a framework introduced and defended by David Albert and Barry Loewer: wave function realism, a framework for interpreting the ontology of quantum theories according to which what appears to be a nonseparable metaphysics ofentangled objects acting instantaneously across spatial distances is a manifestation of a more fundamental separable and local metaphysics in higher dimensions. Thechapterconsiders strategies for extending the wave function realist interpretation of quantum mechanics to the case of relativistic quantum theories, responding to arguments that this cannot be done.

Wave Function Realism in a Relativistic Setting

2021 ◽  
pp. 133-165
Author(s):  
Alyssa Ney
Keyword(s):  
Wave Function ◽  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Relativistic Quantum ◽  
Field Theories ◽  
Quantum Field Theories ◽  
Nonrelativistic Quantum ◽  
Important Lesson ◽  
Quantum Theories ◽  
Nonrelativistic Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Wave Function Realism

This chapter considers and responds to criticism that wave function realism is only plausible as an approach to the interpretation of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics and not relativistic quantum theories and quantum field theories. This critique gains traction as wave function realism has until now been formulated and defended solely within the context of idealized, nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. The chapter considers five such arguments and responds to each. An important lesson is that wave function realists should only adopt the wave-function-in-configuration-space picture as part of an interpretation of an idealized nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. More generally, the space the wave function inhabits will vary as the quantum theory the wave function realist is developing an interpretation of varies. The chapter develops a sketch of what wave function realism looks like in one relativistic context. It then discusses the issue of the interpretation of quantum theories in the limit of physical theorizing.

Bell’s theorem

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Fine
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Quantum Theory ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Bell Inequalities ◽  
Bell’S Theorem ◽  
Bell's Theorem ◽  
Bell Theorem ◽  
System Of Inequalities ◽  
Action At A Distance ◽  
High Degree

Bell’s theorem is concerned with the outcomes of a special type of ‘correlation experiment’ in quantum mechanics. It shows that under certain conditions these outcomes would be restricted by a system of inequalities (the ‘Bell inequalities’) that contradict the predictions of quantum mechanics. Various experimental tests confirm the quantum predictions to a high degree and hence violate the Bell inequalities. Although these tests contain loopholes due to experimental inefficiencies, they do suggest that the assumptions behind the Bell inequalities are incompatible not only with quantum theory but also with nature. A central assumption used to derive the Bell inequalities is a species of no-action-at-a-distance, called ‘locality’: roughly, that the outcomes in one wing of the experiment cannot immediately be affected by measurements performed in another wing (spatially distant from the first). For this reason the Bell theorem is sometimes cited as showing that locality is incompatible with the quantum theory, and the experimental tests as demonstrating that nature is nonlocal. These claims have been contested.

Bell’s theorem and its tests: Proof that nature is superdeterministic—Not random

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-218
Author(s):  
Johan Hansson
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Bell’S Theorem ◽  
Quantum Mechanical ◽  
Bell's Theorem ◽  
Fundamental Level ◽  
Global Space ◽  
Mechanical Measurements

By analyzing the same Bell experiment in different reference frames, we show that nature at its fundamental level is superdeterministic, not random, in contrast to what is indicated by orthodox quantum mechanics. Events—including the results of quantum mechanical measurements—in global space-time are fixed prior to measurement.

scholarly journals Nonlocality in Bell’s Theorem, in Bohm’s Theory, and in Many Interacting Worlds Theorising

Entropy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mojtaba Ghadimi ◽  
Michael Hall ◽  
Howard Wiseman
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Quantum Theory ◽  
Bohmian Mechanics ◽  
Bell’S Theorem ◽  
Bell's Theorem ◽  
Significant Progress ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Weak Notion ◽  
Bohm’S Theory

“Locality” is a fraught word, even within the restricted context of Bell’s theorem. As one of us has argued elsewhere, that is partly because Bell himself used the word with different meanings at different stages in his career. The original, weaker, meaning for locality was in his 1964 theorem: that the choice of setting by one party could never affect the outcome of a measurement performed by a distant second party. The epitome of a quantum theory violating this weak notion of locality (and hence exhibiting a strong form of nonlocality) is Bohmian mechanics. Recently, a new approach to quantum mechanics, inspired by Bohmian mechanics, has been proposed: Many Interacting Worlds. While it is conceptually clear how the interaction between worlds can enable this strong nonlocality, technical problems in the theory have thus far prevented a proof by simulation. Here we report significant progress in tackling one of the most basic difficulties that needs to be overcome: correctly modelling wavefunctions with nodes.

Bell’s theorem: Does quantum mechanics contradict relativity?

1987 ◽  
Vol 55 (8) ◽  
pp. 696-701 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. E. Ballentine ◽  
Jon P. Jarrett
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Bell’S Theorem ◽  
Bell's Theorem
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document