Quantum Chance and Non-locality
This book examines in detail two of the fundamental questions raised by quantum mechanics. Is the world indeterministic? Are there connections between spatially separated objects? In the first part of the book after outlining the formalism of quantum mechanics and introducing the measurement problem, the author examines several interpretations, focusing on how each proposes to solve the measurement problem and on how each treats probability. In the second part, the author argues that there can be non-trivial relationships between probability (specifically, determinism and indeterminism) and non-locality in an interpretation of quantum mechanics. The author then re-examines some of the interpretations of part one of the book in the light of this argument, and considers how they are with regard to locality and Lorentz invariance. One of the important lessons that comes out of this discussion is that any examination of locality, and of the relationship between quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity, should be undertaken in the context of a detailed interpretation of quantum mechanics. The book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the interpretation of quantum mechanics, including researchers in the philosophy of physics and theoretical physics, as well as graduate students in those fields.
Product details
February 2011Adobe eBook Reader
9780511823152
0 pages
0kg
13 b/w illus.
This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgement
- Part I. Quantum Chance:
- 1. Quantum probability and the problem of interpretation
- 2. Orthodox theories
- 3. No-collapse theories
- 4. Modal interpretations
- 5. The Bohm theory
- Part II. Quantum Non-locality:
- 6. Non-locality I: Non-dynamical models of the EPR-Bohm experiment
- 7. Non-locality II: Dynamical models of the EPR-Bohm experiment
- 8. Non-locality and special relativity
- 9. Probability and non-locality
- Notes
- References
- Index.