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Full-Text Articles in Physics
Are There Really Two Different Bell’S Theorems?, Travis Norsen
Are There Really Two Different Bell’S Theorems?, Travis Norsen
Physics: Faculty Publications
This is a polemical response to Howard Wiseman’s recent paper, “The two Bell’s theorems of John Bell”. Wiseman argues that, in 1964, Bell established a conflict between the quantum mechanical predictions and the joint assumptions of determinism and (what is now usually known as) “parameter independence”. Only later, in 1976, did Bell, according to Wiseman, first establish a conflict between the quantum mechanical predictions and locality alone (in the specific form that Bell would sometimes call “local causality”). Thus, according to Wiseman, the long-standing disagreements about what, exactly, Bell’s theorem does and does not prove can be understood largely as …
Can Bohmian Mechanics Be Made Relativistic?, Detlef Dürr, Sheldon Goldstein, Travis Norsen, Ward Struyve, Nino Zaghì
Can Bohmian Mechanics Be Made Relativistic?, Detlef Dürr, Sheldon Goldstein, Travis Norsen, Ward Struyve, Nino Zaghì
Physics: Faculty Publications
In relativistic space-time, Bohmian theories can be formulated by introducing a privileged foliation of space-time. The introduction of such a foliation – as extra absolute space-time structure – would seem to imply a clear violation of Lorentz invariance, and thus a conflict with fundamental relativity. Here, we consider the possibility that, instead of positing it as extra structure, the required foliation could be covariantly determined by the wave function. We argue that this allows for the formulation of Bohmian theories that seem to qualify as fundamentally Lorentz invariant. We conclude with some discussion of whether or not they might also …
Yet Another Snapshot Of Foundational Attitudes Toward Quantum Mechanics, Travis Norsen, Sarah Nelson
Yet Another Snapshot Of Foundational Attitudes Toward Quantum Mechanics, Travis Norsen, Sarah Nelson
Physics: Faculty Publications
A survey probing respondents' views on various foundational issues in quantum mechanics was recently created by Schlosshauer, Kofler, and Zeilinger [arXiv:1301.1069] and then given to 33 participants at a quantum foundations conference. Here we report the results of giving this same survey to the attendees at another recent quantum foundations conference. While it is rather difficult to conclude anything of scientific significance from the poll, the results do strongly suggest several interesting cultural facts -- for example, that there exist, within the broad field of "quantum foundations", sub-communities with quite different views, and that (relatedly) there is probably …