Philosophy of Physics: Quantum Theory
- Downloads：3016
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-06-16 09:55:22
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Tim Maudlin
- ISBN：069118352X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
A sophisticated and original introduction to the philosophy of quantum mechanics from one of the world's leading philosophers of physics
In this book， Tim Maudlin， one of the world's leading philosophers of physics， offers a sophisticated， original introduction to the philosophy of quantum mechanics。 The briefest， clearest， and most refined account of his influential approach to the subject， the book will be invaluable to all students of philosophy and physics。
Quantum mechanics holds a unique place in the history of physics。 It has produced the most accurate predictions of any scientific theory， but， more astonishing， there has never been any agreement about what the theory implies about physical reality。 Maudlin argues that the very term "quantum theory" is a misnomer。 A proper physical theory should clearly describe what is there and what it does--yet standard textbooks present quantum mechanics as a predictive recipe in search of a physical theory。
In contrast， Maudlin explores three proper theories that recover the quantum predictions: the indeterministic wavefunction collapse theory of Ghirardi， Rimini， and Weber; the deterministic particle theory of deBroglie and Bohm; and the conceptually challenging Many Worlds theory of Everett。 Each offers a radically different proposal for the nature of physical reality， but Maudlin shows that none of them are what they are generally taken to be。
In this book， Tim Maudlin， one of the world's leading philosophers of physics， offers a sophisticated， original introduction to the philosophy of quantum mechanics。 The briefest， clearest， and most refined account of his influential approach to the subject， the book will be invaluable to all students of philosophy and physics。
Quantum mechanics holds a unique place in the history of physics。 It has produced the most accurate predictions of any scientific theory， but， more astonishing， there has never been any agreement about what the theory implies about physical reality。 Maudlin argues that the very term "quantum theory" is a misnomer。 A proper physical theory should clearly describe what is there and what it does--yet standard textbooks present quantum mechanics as a predictive recipe in search of a physical theory。
In contrast， Maudlin explores three proper theories that recover the quantum predictions: the indeterministic wavefunction collapse theory of Ghirardi， Rimini， and Weber; the deterministic particle theory of deBroglie and Bohm; and the conceptually challenging Many Worlds theory of Everett。 Each offers a radically different proposal for the nature of physical reality， but Maudlin shows that none of them are what they are generally taken to be。
Reviews
Rahul Banerjee
，
Quite an interesting book on the ontological and interpretational aspects of Quantum Mechanics。 It mainly tackles three 'schools' of Interpretations : Collapse Theories （GRW， Local Beables etc）， Pilot Wave Theory and the Many World Theory。 The author（s） have done quite a good job of explaining how each of these interpretations can be equipped with an individual ontological foundation that connect the bras and the kets to physical， tangible entities and phenomena。 A possible ontology for Quantum Quite an interesting book on the ontological and interpretational aspects of Quantum Mechanics。 It mainly tackles three 'schools' of Interpretations : Collapse Theories （GRW， Local Beables etc）， Pilot Wave Theory and the Many World Theory。 The author（s） have done quite a good job of explaining how each of these interpretations can be equipped with an individual ontological foundation that connect the bras and the kets to physical， tangible entities and phenomena。 A possible ontology for Quantum Field Theory is discussed in the last chapter。 。。。more
Marcio Galvao
，
Professor Maudlin is one of the leading philosophers of physics and his book on Quantum Theory is exceptionally good。 He offers the most clear approach to a very difficult subject - the physical meaning of a quantum theory。 Maudlin argues that the word "theory" is not even adequate in some cases since a true "theory" should provide an ontology （what there is） and a consistent set of equations for the dynamics （what it does， or how the ontology will evolve in time） and some interpretations of the Professor Maudlin is one of the leading philosophers of physics and his book on Quantum Theory is exceptionally good。 He offers the most clear approach to a very difficult subject - the physical meaning of a quantum theory。 Maudlin argues that the word "theory" is not even adequate in some cases since a true "theory" should provide an ontology （what there is） and a consistent set of equations for the dynamics （what it does， or how the ontology will evolve in time） and some interpretations of the quantum theory （like the famous "Copenhagen Interpretation"） don't care to explain what is really happening - they just use well know rules （dubbed as "the quantum recipe" by Maudlin） to （successfully） obtain results and adopt the "shut up and calculate" attitude。On the other hand， there are other approaches which Maudlin consider as "legitimate theories" in the sense of providing an ontology and the equations for it's evolution （dynamics）。 In particular， Maudlin gives a very well written account of three quantum theories: The GRW （Ghirardi-Rimini-Weber） spontaneous collapse theory， where the collapse of the wavefuncion is indeterministic， the Pilot Wave Theory （David Bohm）， and the （very strange but mathematically consistent） Many World's interpretation （by Hugh Everett）。Each of these three candidates are "proper quantum theories" by Maudlin's account of what a legitimate physical theory should be， yet each one of them offers a very different view for the nature of physical reality。 Nevertheless， all these theories are nonrelativistic， meaning they are based on a classic view of space and time which an absolute notion of simultaneity。 The Theory of Relativity must be somehow taken into account in the search of a more realistic quantum theory。 One theory of this kind is the very beautiful （and also mathematically challenging） Relativistic Quantum Field Theory （QFT）， which Maudlin address in Chapter 7。 In QFT， "elementary particles" are not fundamental entities， they emerge as excitations of quantum fields。 Unfortunately even the powerful QFT approach cannot be still a complete account of reality since gravity is still left aside。 In the quantum gravity approach to this problem （as proposed by Carlo Rovelli， Lee Smolin and others） spacetime should also treated as a quantum field， so the entire world would be made by just one single ingredient: covariant quantum fields。 。。。more
MM
，
This is a remarkable book。 The author is focussing on physical theories of what he calls the "quantum recipe" （ie the mathematical and predictive elements of quantum mechanics）。 As such， he does not consider theories that are not physically possible， ie the Copenhagen interpretation。 Rather he considers 3 nonrelativistic theories and briefly touches on quantum field theory。 His main concerns are: what are the fundamental ontologies of these theories？ how do they relate to the wavefunction/quantu This is a remarkable book。 The author is focussing on physical theories of what he calls the "quantum recipe" （ie the mathematical and predictive elements of quantum mechanics）。 As such， he does not consider theories that are not physically possible， ie the Copenhagen interpretation。 Rather he considers 3 nonrelativistic theories and briefly touches on quantum field theory。 His main concerns are: what are the fundamental ontologies of these theories？ how do they relate to the wavefunction/quantum state？ how do they relate to violations of Bell's inequality？ and how do they account for the relationship between macroscopic objects and microscopic particles？One concern I have is with the easy dismissal of categorization （per Aristotle's categories） for the quantum state。 The author states that this is not at all necessary for something as unique and mind boggling as the quantum state; rather， we should consider it ontologically basic。 I found this justification odd and I am not convinced by it。Although it is an introduction， it definitely has to be read very very carefully。 A book worth revisiting， if only for how the author presents the 8 basic experiments of quantum physics。The author apologetically acknowledges that relativistic theories are important， but justifiably believes that the main concerns of physical theories of quantum mechanics can， for pedagogical purposes， be better approached through the nonrelativistic theories presented。 I am inclined to agree with him。Note that there are many many resources on the Copenhagen interpretation out there， so it's nice to read a work that doesn't focus on it （for once）。 Also this isn't a work of the history of science; you're better off reading that elsewhere （eg Cushing）。 。。。more
Valeriano Diviacchi
，