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QUANTUM MECHANICS AND MAGIC: AN OPEN DISCUSSION

Miguel Ferrero, Salgado, David, J. L. Sánchez‐Gómez

Published Aug 24, 2014• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We show that quantum mechanics is the first theory in human history that violates the basic a priori principles that have shaped human thought since immemorial times. Therefore, although it is more contrary to magic than any body of knowledge could be, what could be called its magic precisely resides in this violation.

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Quantum mechanics is one of the crowning achievements of human thought. There is no theory that is more successful in predicting phenomena over such a wide range of situations—and with such accuracy—than quantum mechanics. From the basic principles of chemistry to the working of the semiconductors in your mobile phone, and from the Big Bang to atomic clocks, quantum mechanics comes up with the goods. At the same time, we still have trouble pinpointing exactly what the theory tells us about nature. Quantum mechanics is hard, but perhaps not as hard as you think.
It has been frequently said that "Quantum Mechanics is Magic".e real fact is just the opposite: quantum mechanics is not magic, it is rather one of the best scientific theories in terms of the amplitude and exactness of its predictions.Quantum Mechanics surprises us as it does not satisfy some a priori principles usually considered to be necessary preconditions to build up physics (as Einstein dixit).As these principles are also the basis of some important philosophical theories of science, these philosophical theories cannot be well founded.After criticizing them, we offer the preliminary lines of a methodology of physics adapted to the formalism of quantum mechanics.
Abstract We present the current state of quantum mechanics, the prospects for its development, and the strengthening of its influence on scientific and technological progress. We look at quantum mechanics from four perspectives. The first perspective astonished physicists already with the advent of quantum mechanics—it is (1) a new way of looking at the world. Over the course of a hundred years of development, quantum mechanics has acquired three more perspectives: (2) an independent field of knowledge, (3) a new physical theory, and (4) a radical change in paradigm in the history of human thought. We have named the new paradigm “neo-Copenhagen” to emphasize both its development from and its continuity with the Copenhagen interpretation. We review the problems of quantum mechanics: how experimental research progresses, how basic concepts develop, how practical applications of paradoxical ideas expand. We indicate ways to solve three Ginzburg’s “great” problems. We formulate the features of the neo-Copenhagen paradigm that have already emerged. We present a look at the future of science and technology on the three time scales.
It is argued that the traditional "realist" methodology of physics, according to which human concepts, laws and theories can grasp the essence of reality, is incompatible with the most fruitful interpretation of quantum formalism. The proof rests on the violation by quantum mechanics of the foundational principles of that methodology. An alternative methodology, in which the construction of sciences finishes at the level of human experience, as standard quantum theory strongly suggests, is then conjectured.