Heisenberg and the interpretation of quantum mechanics : the physicist as philosopher / Kristian Camilleri.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Camilleri, Kristian.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Heisenberg, Werner, 1901-1976--Philosophy.

Heisenberg, Werner.

Heisenberg, Werner, 1901-1976.

Physics--Philosophy.

Physics.

Quantum theory.

Philosophy.

Physical Description:

xii, 199 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, [2009]

Summary:

Werner Heisenberg was a pivotal figure in the development of quantum mechanics in the 1920s, and also one of its most insightful interpreters. Together with Bohr, Heisenberg forged what is commonly known as the 'Copenhagen interpretation'. Yet Heisenberg's philosophical viewpoint did not remain fixed over time, and his interpretation of quantum mechanics, beginning with his positivism of the mid-1920s, through his neo-Kantian reading of Bohr in the 1930s, and culminating with his 'linguistic turn' in the 1940s and 1950s. It focuses on the nature of this transformation in Heisenberg's thought and its wider philosophical context, which have until now not received the attention they deserve. This new perspective on Heisenberg's interpretation of quantum mechanics will interest researchers and graduate students in the history and philosophy of twentieth-century physics.

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Heisenberg's philosophy of quantum mechanics 3

1.2 Heisenberg as a philosopher-physicist 8

Part I The Emergence of Quantum Mechanics 15

2 Quantum mechanics and the principle of observability 17

2.1 The observability principle 18

2.2 The renunciation of the electron orbit and the elimination of unobservables 21

2.3 Heisenberg's version of the observability principle 26

2.4 The meaning of observability: a discussion with Einstein 31

3 The problem of interpretation 36

3.1 Reconceptualising the electron's motion 37

3.2 The physical meaning of Schrödinger's wave mechanics 40

3.3 Drawing the battle lines: Heisenberg and Schrödinger on understanding in physics 44

3.4 Redefining Anschaulichkeit 48

3.5 Instrumentalism or realism? Heisenberg's notion of closed theories 53

Part II The Heisenberg-Bohr Dialogue 61

4 The wave-particle duality 63

4.1 The physical reality of the electron: wave or particle? 65

4.2 Probability waves and the quantum mechanics of particles 68

4.3 Quantised matter waves and wave-particle equivalence 73

4.4 Heisenberg and Bohr: divergent views of wave-particle duality 77

5 Indeterminacy and the limits of classical concepts: the turning point in Heisenberg's thought 85

5.1 New concepts of space and time in quantum theory 87

5.2 The introduction of the gamma-ray microscope 92

5.3 Bohr's analysis of the limits of measurement and the meaning of concepts 95

5.4 The turning point in Heisenberg's philosophy 100

6 Heisenberg and Bohr: divergent viewpoints of complementarity 108

6.1 Bohr's complementarity of space-time and causal descriptions 109

6.2 The Heisenberg interpretation 112

6.3 Weizsäcker's reconstruction 116

6.4 Mutually exclusive experimental arrangements 118

6.5 The object-instrument divide 123

Part III Heisenberg's Epistemology and Ontology of Quantum Mechanics 131

7 The transformation of Kantian philosophy 133

7.1 Heisenberg's early confrontation with Kantian philosophy 134

7.2 The doctrine of classical concepts 139

7.3 The constitutive dimension of language and the forms of intuition 142

7.4 Heisenberg's transformation of the a priori 147

8 The linguistic turn in Heisenberg's thought 152

8.1 Heisenberg's conception of language 153

8.2 The language-reality problem in quantum mechanics 158

8.3 The problem of meaning 161

8.4 Actuality and potentiality 165.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780521884846

0521884845

OCLC:

244767751