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Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences

Decoherence: the view from the history and philosophy of science

Amit Hagar

Published Aug 20, 2012• 48 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present a brief history of decoherence, from its roots in the foundations of classical statistical mechanics, to the current spin bath models in condensed matter physics. We then analyse the philosophical importance of decoherence in three different foundational problems, and find that its role in their solutions is less than that commonly believed. What makes decoherence more philosophically interesting, we argue, are the methodological issues it draws attention to, and the question of the universality of quantum mechanics.

DOI
10.1098/rsta.2011.0497

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•Oct 16, 2008•2 citations
We present a brief history of decoherence, from its roots in the foundations of classical statistical mechanics, to the current spin bath models in condensed matter physics. We then analyse the philosophical importance of decoherence in three different foundational problems, and find that its role in their solutions is less than that commonly believed. What makes decoherence more philosophically interesting, we argue, are the methodological issues it draws attention to, and the question of the universality of quantum mechanics.
Quantum mechanics has engendered some philosophical disputes surrounding its conceptual foundation.To solve these disputes,some alternative interpretations which are different from orthodox(and Copenhagen) interpretation have been engendered.In the recent twenty years,the idea of decoherence has aroused attention among physicists and physical philosophers.Decoherence effects alone cannot solve the measurement problem.But decoherence including environmental interactions not only poses new conceptual questions but also suggests solutions to fundamental problems.
The complex relation between quantum mechanics and classical mechanics is crucial in the philosophy of modern physics, and it cuts across current quantum physics. This paper is divided in two parts. In the first part I will offer a critical analysis of the role that decoherence plays in the account of the quantum-classical limit. In the second part I will mention three ways in which philosophers are engaging with the realist interpretation of quantum mechanics in light of the assessment that the problem of the quantum-classical limit is still open to debate. My main claim is that the problem of the quantum-classical limit is overrated and it receives too much attention for the realist who looks at quantum mechanics. The question that the realist wants to focus on is the crucial interpretation question: what is a quantum system?
A short review of some recent developments in the philosophy of physics is presented. I focus on themes which illustrate relations and points of common interest between philosophy of physics and three of its `neighboring' elds: Physics, metaphysics and general philosophy of science. The main examples discussed in these three `border areas' are (i) decoherence and the interpretation of quantum mechanics; (ii) time in physics and metaphysics; and (iii)methodological issues surrounding the multiverse idea in modern cosmology.
In this magisterial work, Roland Omnès takes us from the academies of ancient Greece to the laboratories of modern science as he seeks to do no less than rebuild the foundations of the philosophy of knowledge. One of the world's leading quantum physicists, Omnès reviews the history and recent development of mathematics, logic, and the physical sciences to show that current work in quantum theory offers new answers to questions that have puzzled philosophers for centuries: Is the world ultimately intelligible? Are all events caused? Do objects have definitive locations? Omnès addresses these profound questions with vigorous arguments and clear, colorful writing, aiming not just to advance scholarship but to enlighten readers with no background in science or philosophy. The book opens with an insightful and sweeping account of the main developments in science and the philosophy of knowledge from the pre-Socratic era to the nineteenth century. Omnès then traces the emergence in modern thought of a fracture between our intuitive, commonsense views of the world and the abstract and--for most people--incomprehensible world portrayed by advanced physics, math, and logic. He argues that the fracture appeared because the insights of Einstein and Bohr, the logical advances of Frege, Russell, and Gödel, and the necessary mathematics of infinity of Cantor and Hilbert cannot be fully expressed by words or images only. Quantum mechanics played an important role in this development, as it seemed to undermine intuitive notions of intelligibility, locality, and causality. However, Omnès argues that common sense and quantum mechanics are not as incompatible as many have thought. In fact, he makes the provocative argument that the "consistent-histories" approach to quantum mechanics, developed over the past fifteen years, places common sense (slightly reappraised and circumscribed) on a firm scientific and philosophical footing for the first time. In doing so, it provides what philosophers have sought through the ages: a sure foundation for human knowledge. Quantum Philosophy is a profound work of contemporary science and philosophy and an eloquent history of the long struggle to understand the nature of the world and of knowledge itself.
There are several (general) philosophy of physics textbooks on the market.1 An obvious question to ask at the outset then is: Why another one? In his “Some Philosophical Aspects of Particle Physics”, Michael Redhead bemoans the common practice of philosophers of science of dealing with examples “which are no longer of current research interest in science” ((1980), p. 279). This practice is still common even among many philosophers of physics, and, for the most part, the available textbooks continue to engage in this practice. Generally, one finds a little spacetime, a little statistical mechanics, and a little quantum theory. Now, these are of course the ‘pillars’ of modern physics, so it is what we should expect to be covered in any textbook on the philosophy of physics worth its salt (and, indeed, they are well represented in this book). However, the issues that are dealt with are usually very old fashioned and very limited in scope: ‘spacetime’ means ‘the twins paradox’ (and possibly conventionalism); ‘statistical mechanics’ means ‘time asymmetry’; and ‘quantum theory’ means ‘the measurement problem’. Redhead is surely right that this leads physicists to “regard philosophy of science as somewhat irrelevant”. Rightly so, too, if this were in fact representative of much of what actually goes on in philosophy of physics. However, the state of play as represented in philosophy of physics and (some) philosophy of science journals shows a very different level of engagement, with philosophers of physics investigating the frontiers of scientific research. This disparity (or the impression of such) is the raison d’eˆtre for the book you are now reading. The result is an introductory textbook covering those portions of philosophy of physics research that other textbooks fail to cover, or cover only very briefly or very simplistically. The three pillars of modern physics-relativity, quantum theory and statistical mechanics-are still represented, then, but from a more advanced and contemporary perspective.