Quantum mechanics : an empiricist view / Bas C. van Fraassen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Van Fraassen, Bas C., 1941-

Series:

Clarendon Paperbacks

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Quantum theory.

Science--Philosophy.

Science.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (558 p.)

Place of Publication:

Oxford [England] : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1991.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The author argues that quantum theory admits a plurality of interpretations, each aiding further understanding of the theory, but also advocating specifically the Copenhagen Variant of the Modal Interpretation. That variant is applied to topics like the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox and the problem of 'identical' particles.

Contents:

""Preface""; ""Summary Table of Contents""; ""Contents""; ""1. What Is Science?""; ""1. Two views about science""; ""2. Theories and models""; ""3. Interpretation: science as open text""; ""4. Models and scientific practice""; ""5. More about empiricism""; ""PART I. DETERMINISM AND INDETERMINISM IN CLASSICAL PERSPECTIVE""; ""2. Determinism""; ""1. How symmetry is connected to determinism""; ""2. State-space models and their laws""; ""3. Symmetry, transformation, invariance""; ""4. Symmetries of time: classical (in)determinism""; ""5. Conservation laws and covariance""

""3. Indeterminism and Probability""""1. Pure indeterminism and the modalities""; ""2. Probability as measure of the possible""; ""3. Symmetry and a priori probability""; ""4. Permutation symmetry: De Finetti's representation theorem""; ""5. Ergodic theory: underlying determinism""; ""6. A classical version of Schroedinger's equation""; ""7. Holism: indeterminism in compound systems""; ""PART II. HOW THE PHENOMENA DEMAND QUANTUM THEORY""; ""4. The Empirical Basis of Quantum Theory""; ""1. Threat of indeterminism""; ""2. Causality in an indeterministic world""

""3. Deduction of Bell's Inequalities""""4. The experiments""; ""5. General description of causal models""; ""6. Does locality really play a role?""; ""5. New Probability Models and their Logic""; ""1. When are values indeterminate?""; ""2. General and geometric probability models""; ""3. Accardi's inequalities""; ""4. The end of counterfactual definiteness""; ""5. Models of measurement: a trilemma for interpretation""; ""6. Introduction to quantum logic""; ""7. Is quantum logic important?""; ""PART III. MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATIONS""; ""6. The Basic Theory of Quantum Mechanics""

""1. Pure states and observables""""2. Pure states, observables, and vectors""; ""3. Observables and operators""; ""4. Mixed states and operators""; ""5. Gleason's theorem and its implications""; ""6. Symmetries and motion: Schroedinger's equation""; ""7. Symmetries and conservation laws""; ""8. The radical effect of superselection rules""; ""7. Composite Systems, Interaction, and Measurement""; ""1. Composition""; ""2. Reduction""; ""3. Interaction and the ignorance interpretation of mixtures""; ""4. The quantum-mechanical theory of measurement""; ""5. Preparation of state""

""PART IV. QUESTIONS OF INTERPRETATION""""8. Critique of the Standard Interpretation""; ""1. What is an interpretation?""; ""2. Two forms of indeterminism""; ""3. What happens in measurement? von Neumann's answer""; ""4. Von Neumann's first defence: consistency of measurement""; ""5. Von Neumann's second defence: repeatable measurement""; ""6. R. I. G. Hughes's argument from conditional probability""; ""7. Two cat paradoxes and the macro world""; ""8. Macroscopic character and superselection rules""; ""9. Modal Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics""; ""1. The modal interpretation""

""2. The modal account developed""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [502]-527) and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-159746-5

1-282-05294-2

0-19-152004-7

9786612052941

OCLC:

123129637