The paper investigates possible readings of the later Heisenberg's remarks on the nature of quantum states. It discusses, in particular, whether Heisenberg should be seen as a proponent of the epistemic conception of states -- the view that quantum states are not descriptions of quantum systems but rather reflect the state assigning observers' epistemic relations to these systems. On the one hand, it seems plausible that Heisenberg subscribes to that view, given how he defends the notorious "collapse of the wave function" by relating it to a sudden change in the epistemic situation of the observer registering a measured result. On the other hand, his remarks on quantum probabilities as "potentia" or "objective tendencies" are difficult to reconcile with such a reading. The accounts that are attributed to Heisenberg by the different possible readings considered are subjected to closer scrutiny; at the same time, their respective virtues and problems are discussed.
...More
Book
Elise Crull;
Guido Bacciagaluppi;
(2017)
Grete Hermann - Between Physics and Philosophy
(/isis/citation/CBB765433496/)
Book
Cassidy, David;
(2008)
Beyond Uncertainty: Heisenberg, Quantum Physics, and the Bomb
(/isis/citation/CBB001220838/)
Article
Root-Bernstein, Robert Scott;
(2007)
Certain of Heisenberg's Arts
(/isis/citation/CBB000831482/)
Article
Henderson, James R.;
(2010)
Classes of Copenhagen Interpretations: Mechanisms of Collapse as Typologically Determinative
(/isis/citation/CBB001024196/)
Article
Camilleri, Kristian;
(2009)
Constructing the Myth of the Copenhagen Interpretation
(/isis/citation/CBB000932265/)
Book
Evans, James;
Thorndike, A. S.;
(2007)
Quantum Mechanics at the Crossroads: New Perspectives from History, Philosophy and Physics
(/isis/citation/CBB001031681/)
Thesis
Nickard, Gary Laurence;
(2006)
Phenomenal Surfaces and Noumenal Depths: Philosophy and Quantum Theory
(/isis/citation/CBB001560887/)
Book
Lindley, David;
(2007)
Uncertainty: Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the Struggle for the Soul of Science
(/isis/citation/CBB000774697/)
Chapter
Antonino Drago;
(2016)
The three formulations of quantum mechanics founded on the alternative choices
(/isis/citation/CBB805461360/)
Book
Rechenberg, Helmut;
(2009)
Werner Heisenberg -- Die Sprache der Atome. Leben und Wirken -- Eine wissenschaftliche Biographie; Die “Fröhliche Wissenschaft” (Jugend bis Nobelpreis)
(/isis/citation/CBB001024767/)
Book
Plotnitsky, Arkady;
(2010)
Epistemology and Probability: Bohr, Heisenberg, Schrödinger and the Nature of Quantum-Theoretical Thinking
(/isis/citation/CBB001230453/)
Article
Rigden, John S.;
Stuewer, Roger H.;
(2012)
Understanding of Quantum Mechanics Eludes Physicists for Eighty-Six Years
(/isis/citation/CBB001221642/)
Book
Rédei, Miklós;
Stöltzner, Michael;
(2001)
John von Neumann and the Foundations of Quantum Physics
(/isis/citation/CBB000100737/)
Article
Lin, Zhen-qi;
Zhang, Feng;
Hu, Hua-kai;
(2006)
The Man Who Helped Found Quantum Statistics---S. N. Bose
(/isis/citation/CBB000760571/)
Article
Zaghloul, M. R.;
(2011)
Inconsistency in Fermi's Probability of the Quantum States
(/isis/citation/CBB001251952/)
Book
Patrick Aidan Heelan;
(2015)
The Observable: Heisenberg's Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics
(/isis/citation/CBB732754130/)
Book
Camilleri, Kristian;
(2009)
Heisenberg and the Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics: The Physicist as Philosopher
(/isis/citation/CBB000951622/)
Article
Camilleri, Kristian;
(2006)
Heisenberg and the Wave-Particle Duality
(/isis/citation/CBB000670175/)
Article
Bacciagaluppi, Guido;
Crull, Elise;
(2009)
Heisenberg (and Schrödinger, and Pauli) on Hidden Variables
(/isis/citation/CBB000933686/)
Article
Duncan, Anthony;
Janssen, Michel;
(2008)
Pascual Jordan's Resolution of the Conundrum of the Wave-Particle Duality of Light
(/isis/citation/CBB000933674/)
Be the first to comment!