A fundamental symmetry principle in quantum mechanics is formulated in the framework of the standard axiomatic quantum mechanics and a new philosophical interpretation for quantum mechanics, which dissolves "difficulties" in the conventional interpretations for quantum mechanics, is presented. Moreover, philosophical phases of the fundamental symmetry principle are discussed in connection with Plato's philosophy and Oriental philosophies, in particular, Zen Buddhism.
A fundamental symmetry principle in quantum mechanics is formulated in the framework of the standard axiomatic quantum mechanics and a new philosophical interpretation for quantum mechanics, which dissolves "difficulties" in the conventional interpretations for quantum mechanics, is presented. Moreover, philosophical phases of the fundamental symmetry principle are discussed in connection with Plato's philosophy and Oriental philosophies, in particular, Zen Buddhism.
In this paper, I argue that symmetry principles in physics (in particular, in quantum mechanics) have a methodological character, rather than an ontological or an epistemological one. First, I provide a framework to address three related issues regarding the notion of symmetry: (i) how the notion can be characterized; (ii) one way of discussing the nature of symmetry principles, and (iii) a tentative account of some types of symmetry in physics. To illustrate how the framework functions, I then consider the case of the early formulation of quantum mechanics, examining the different roles played by symmetry in this context. Finally, I raise difficulties for ontological and purely epistemological interpretations of symmetry principles, and offer a methodological alternative.
We present a group-theoretic reconstruction of quantum mechanics in which the standard formalism emerges from the representation theory of symmetry groups rather than being introduced axiomatically. Starting from physically motivated symmetry principles, we show how the conventional postulates of quantum mechanics including the Hilbert space structure of states, observables as generators of symmetry transformations, the Born probability rule, unitary time evolution, the composition of multipartite systems, and the measurement framework can be recovered within a unified representation-theoretic framework. We then examine the measurement problem by interpreting wave-function collapse as the scattering of quantum states, thereby providing an account of the apparent loss of information. Finally, we investigate the origin of Planck's constant, proposing that it arises as the conserved charge of the Lorentz symmetry group. In this formulation, ℏ is an invariant that relates Lie algebra generators to observable quantities and fixes the scale of quantum action. This framework offers a conceptually unified perspective on the foundations of quantum mechanics, connecting its postulates, measurement theory, and the emergence of the quantum of action to a common symmetry-based origin while identifying conditions under which the conventional quantum formalism is recovered.
We present a group-theoretic reconstruction of quantum mechanics in which the standard formalism emerges from the representation theory of symmetry groups rather than being introduced axiomatically. Starting from physically motivated symmetry principles, we show how the conventional postulates of quantum mechanics, including the Hilbert space structure of states, observables as generators of symmetry transformations, the Born probability rule, unitary time evolution, the composition of multipartite systems, and the measurement framework, can be recovered within a unified representation-theoretic framework. We then examine the measurement problem by interpreting wave-function collapse as the scattering of quantum states, thereby accounting for the apparent loss of information. This framework offers a conceptually unified perspective on the foundations of quantum mechanics, connecting its postulates, measurement theory, and the emergence of quantum phenomena to a common symmetry-based origin.
It is demonstrated that the reason for the diversity of interpretations of quantum mechanics is that they are not connected by continuity relations with classical physics, and also the reason is the impossibility of operationalist definition of the vector of state. The problem lies in the incompatibility of the philosophical foundations of interpretations, which results in the difficulty of building a unified picture of the world. To solve the problem, we identify general philosophical foundation of interpretations of quantum mechanics and built their classification. We also show that in more general theories, the part of which is quantum mechanics, it is possible to integrate (reconcile) the philosophical foundations of interpretations.
Recently we proposed “a new interpretation of quantum mechanics (called quantum and classical measurement theory)” in this journal (JQIS: Vol. 1, No. 2), which was characterized as the metaphysical and linguistic turn of quantum mechanics. This turn from physics to language does not only realize the remarkable extension of quantum mechanics but also yield the quantum mechanical world view (i.e., the philosophy of quantum mechanics). And thus, the turn urges us to dream that traditional philosophies (i.e., Parmenides, Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, John Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, Saussure, Wittgenstein, etc.) can be understood in the quantum mechanical world view. This dream will be challenged in this paper. We, of course, know that most scientists are skeptical to philosophy. Still, we can expect that readers find a good linguistic philosophy (i.e. philosophy of language) in quantum mechanics.
We explore a mathematical formalism that ties together the observer with the observed in the view that Consciousness is primary, operating through three principles which apply at all levels, the essence of qualia of experience. The formalism is a simplified version of Hilbert space mathematics encountered in quantum mechanics. It does, however, go beyond specific interpretations of quantum mechanics and has strong philosophical foundations in Western philosophy as well as monistic systems of the East. The implications are explored and steps for the full development of this axiomatic mathematical approach to Consciousness are discussed.