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Boston studies in the philosophy of science

On Time, Causation and Explanation in the Causally Symmetric Bohmian Model of Quantum Mechanics

Joseph Berkovitz

Published Jan 1, 2017• 1 citation
Publisher
DOI
10.1007/978-3-319-53725-2_8

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Abstract What are the consequences of quantum mechanics for the structure of causal explanation? It depends on the interpretation you choose. According to a hidden variable theory like Bohm’s, a measurement on one particle can have instantaneous effects on another, no matter how distant. This nonlocality is in prima facie conflict with special relativity. The prospects for constructing a local hidden variable theory are assessed, in particular by invoking backward-in-time causation. Many-worlds theories do not invoke nonlocal causation. However, they do entail that microcausal explanations are in terms of waves, not particles, and they inject consideration of the observer’s location among the worlds into causal explanations. Spontaneous collapse theories like GRW do invoke nonlocal causation; the prospects for a local spontaneous collapse theory are investigated. All of the major interpretations of quantum mechanics modify the structure of causal explanation from the received classical ideal.