On a generalized peaceful coexistence of special relativity and quantum mechanics

Michael L. G. Redhead

Erkki Brändas

Kent A. Peacock

I present a thought experiment in quantum mechanics and tease out some of its implications for the doctrine of “peaceful coexistence”, which, following Shimony, I take to be the proposition that quantum mechanics does not force us to revise or abandon the relativistic picture of causality. I criticize the standard arguments in favour of peaceful coexistence on the grounds that they are question‐begging, and suggest that the breakdown of Lorentz‐invariant relativity as a principle theory would be a natural development, given the general trend of physics in this century.

Federico Laudisa

It is shown that in the Rovelli relational interpretation of quantum mechanics, in which the notion of absolute or observer independent state is rejected, the conclusion of the ordinary EPR argument turns out to be frame-dependent, provided the conditions of the original argument are suitably adapted to the new interpretation. The consequences of this result for the `peaceful coexistence' of quantum mechanics and special relativity are briefly discussed.

Andreas Schlatter

M. P. Seevinck

This white paper aims to identify an open problem in 'Quantum Physics and the Nature of Reality' --namely whether quantum theory and special relativity are formally compatible--, to indicate what the underlying issues are, and put forward ideas about how the problem might be addressed.