Monograph on the philosophy of quantum mechanics.

The forty-nine papers collected here illuminate the meaning of quantum theory as it is disclosed in the measurement process. Together with an introduction and a supplemental annotated bibliography, they discuss issues that make quantum theory, overarching principle of twentieth-century physics, appear to many to prefigure a new revolution in science. Originally published in 1983. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The aim of this book is twofold: to provide a comprehensive account of the foundations of the theory and to outline a theoretical and philosophical interpretation suggested from the results of the last twenty years.There is a need to provide an account of the foundations of the theory because recent experience has largely confirmed the theory and offered a wealth of new discoveries and possibilities. On the other side, the following results have generated a new basis for discussing the problem of the interpretation: the new developments in measurement theory; the experimental generation of ?Schr”dinger cats?; recent developments which allow, for the first time, the simultaneous measurement of complementary observables; quantum information processing, teleportation and computation.To accomplish this task, the book combines historical, systematic and thematic approaches.

A novel interpretation of quantum mechanics, first proposed in brief form by Hugh Everett in 1957, forms the nucleus around which this book has developed. In his interpretation, Dr. Everett denies the existence of a separate classical realm and asserts the propriety of considering a state vector for the whole universe. Because this state vector never collapses, reality as a whole is rigorously deterministic. This reality, which is described jointly by the dynamical variables and the state vector, is not the reality customarily perceived; rather, it is a reality composed of many worlds. By virtue of the temporal development of the dynamical variables, the state vector decomposes naturally into orthogonal vectors, reflecting a continual splitting of the universe into a multitude of mutually unobservable but equally real worlds, in each of which every good measurement has yielded a definite result, and in most of which the familiar statistical quantum laws hold. The volume contains Dr. Everett's short paper from 1957, "'Relative State' Formulation of Quantum Mechanics," and a far longer exposition of his interpretation, entitled "The Theory of the Universal Wave Function," never before published. In addition, other papers by Wheeler, DeWitt, Graham, and Cooper and Van Vechten provide further discussion of the same theme. Together, they constitute virtually the entire world output of scholarly commentary on the Everett interpretation. Originally published in 1973. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This book has two sections. The section Selected Topics in Applications of Quantum Mechanics provides seven chapters about different applications of quantum mechanics in science and technology. The section Selected Topics in Foundations of Quantum Mechanics provides seven chapters about the foundations of quantum mechanics. This book is written by a community of expert scientists from different research institutes and universities from all over the world. Without a doubt, quantum mechanics is the greatest discovery of the 20th century. Therefore, its history and foundations are of great interest to scientists and students. This book covers some of the applications of quantum mechanics in nuclear physics, medical science, information technology, atomic physics and material science, as well as selected topics of quantum mechanics through different bases and ideas about quantum mechanics. The basic idea of the publication of this book is to make scientists and researchers, as well as graduate students, familiar with the foundations of quantum mechanics.

Metaphysicians should pay attention to quantum mechanics. Why? Not because it provides definitive answers to many metaphysical questions-the theory itself is remarkably silent on the nature of the physical world, and the various interpretations of the theory on offer present conflicting ontological pictures. Rather, quantum mechanics is essential to the metaphysician because it reshapes standard metaphysical debates and opens up unforeseen new metaphysical possibilities. Even if quantum mechanics provides few clear answers, there are good reasons to think that any adequate understanding of the quantum world will result in a radical reshaping of our classical world-view in some way or other. Whatever the world is like at the atomic scale, it is almost certainly not the swarm of particles pushed around by forces that is often presupposed. This book guides readers through the theory of quantum mechanics and its implications for metaphysics in a clear and accessible way. The theory and its various interpretations are presented with a minimum of technicality. The consequences of these interpretations for metaphysical debates concerning realism, indeterminacy, causation, determinism, holism, and individuality (among other topics) are explored in detail, stressing the novel form that the debates take given the empirical facts in the quantum domain. While quantum mechanics may not deliver unconditional pronouncements on these issues, the range of possibilities consistent with our knowledge of the empirical world is relatively small-and each possibility is metaphysically revisionary in some way. This book will appeal to researchers, students, and anybody else interested in how science informs our world-view.

The Quantum Measurement Problem (QMP) is a single resource for information on the QMP and it establishes a basis for research on what is arguably the most well-known and still-unresolved scientific problem: how does our observed world relate to the quantum? The book is suitable for both undergraduate level study on a selective basis as well as graduate level study and for use as a resource for research scientists interested in aspects of the QMP. There are many sections that can even be profitably read by the general public to appreciate the history and future importance of the QMP. Although many books are now available that adequately address Quantum Information, this is the first book offering a comparable treatment for the QMP. The QMP has a companion website, https: //theqmp.com, with video presentations and other resources. There are some in the physics community that view the QMP only as a problem that requires an interpretation while others view its solution as essential to complete our physical description of the world and enhance our ability to design experimental probes of its physical elements in terms of quantum physics. This book critically examines these two viewpoints and resolves this dichotomy in favor of the latter viewpoint. The problem is precisely defined in terms of experimental operations and the scientific requirements that a resolution would have to meet. It explains why the QMP is a physical problem that requires more than an interpretation for its resolution and why a solution could have profound implications for physics as well as other fields. In particular, it uses quantum information methods for a constructive demonstration that unitary Schrödinger processes can be experimentally distinguished from measurement processes using well-established techniques such as Bell measurements, which would establish that measurement is a non-unitary process. Neither Schrödinger's equation nor the measurement postulate is found to be sufficient to explain measurement. For the first time, The QMP offers a single resource that thoroughly assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the major approaches to the QMP. . The exposition in The QMP contains eight chapters, including problem sets, with dual tracks throughout the book that allow both those with a technical background in quantum physics or quantum information as well as less-technical readers to come up to speed on the QMP, depending on their interests and background. . Chapters 1 and 2 are an introductory-level presentation of wave-particle duality and unitary Schrödinger processes. Chapter 3 is a key chapter that uses quantum information methods for a constructive demonstration that unitary Schrödinger processes can be experimentally distinguished from measurement processes using well-established techniques such as Bell measurements, which would establish that measurement is a non-unitary process. Chapter 4 presents a detailed definition of the QMP in terms of experimental observations and uses the results of Chapter 3 to systematically evaluate the strength and weaknesses of all the major approaches to the QMP in the literature and determine which constitute physical theories as opposed to philosophical interpretations. Chapter 5 gives an uncensored historical perspective leading to the development of quantum physics from the viewpoint of those physical aspects which will ultimately form the elements of the QMP. Chapter 6 presents a unique discussion of the Scientific Method and how the use of scientific deduction within the approach of radical conservatism can most proficiently address problems of quantum foundations. Chapter 7 presents concepts and mathematical tools useful for further research developments of both closed and open system approaches to the QMP. Chapter 8 presents conclusions and the status of the QMP for moving forward.

Here Roland Omnès offers a clear, up-to-date guide to the conceptual framework of quantum mechanics. In an area that has provoked much philosophical debate, Omnès has achieved high recognition for his Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (Princeton 1994), a book for specialists. Now the author has transformed his own theory into a short and readable text that enables beginning students and experienced physicists, mathematicians, and philosophers to form a comprehensive picture of the field while learning about the most recent advances. This new book presents a more streamlined version of the Copenhagen interpretation, showing its logical consistency and completeness. The problem of measurement is a major area of inquiry, with the author surveying its history from Planck to Heisenberg before describing the consistent-histories interpretation. He draws upon the most recent research on the decoherence effect (related to the modern resolution of the famous Schrödinger's cat problem) and an exact formulation of the correspondence between quantum and particle physics (implying a derivation of classical determinism from quantum probabilism). Interpretation is organized with the help of a universal and sound language using so-called consistent histories. As a language and a method, it can now be shown to be free of ambiguity and it makes interpretation much clearer and closer to common sense.

Quantum mechanics is one of the most fundamental yet difficult subjects in physics. Nonrelativistic quantum theory is presented here in a clear and systematic fashion, integrating Born's probabilistic interpretation with Schrödinger dynamics. Basic quantum principles are illustrated with simple examples requiring no mathematics beyond linear algebra and elementary probability theory. The quantum measurement process is consistently analyzed using fundamental quantum principles without referring to measurement. These same principles are used to resolve several of the paradoxes that have long perplexed physicists, including the double slit and Schrödinger's cat. The consistent histories formalism used here was first introduced by the author, and extended by M. Gell-Mann, J. Hartle and R. Omnès. Essential for researchers yet accessible to advanced undergraduate students in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and computer science, this book is supplementary to standard textbooks. It will also be of interest to physicists and philosophers working on the foundations of quantum mechanics.

In this highly readable book, H.S. Green, a former student of Max Born and well known as an author in physics and in the philosophy of science, presents a timely analysis of theoretical physics and related fundamental problems.