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The Rift between Causality and Explanation

John P. Losee

Published Jul 28, 2017• 0 citations

Abstract

In 1935, Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR) argued that the Copenhagen interpretation of the quantum realm is incomplete. Moreover, they maintained that it is based on an unacceptable interpretation of physical reality. David Bohm revised the EPR thought experiment by focusing on spin determination as a state variable. Consider the creation of a pair of electrons by the spontaneous decay of a neutral pion. This is a physical process whose existence has been established. The spin of the pion before decay is zero. Consequently, the sum of the spins of the electrons also must be zero, given that spin is conserved in nuclear reactions. Analysis of the two-slit experiments reveals a failure of the causality-explanation relationship. The interference effect produced when no detecting devices are present at the two slits is no longer present. It would seem that detecting the passage of individual electrons through the slits destroys the wave-like behavior of the electrons.

DOI: 10.4324/9781315080772-5

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