Probability and Locality: Determinism Versus Indeterminism in Quantum Mechanics

Mohamed Saladin El Naschie

Brigitte Falkenburg, Friedel Weinert

Bas C. van Fraassen

Pure indeterminism is simply the denial of determinism; a theory may augment this with models in which the uncertain events have definite probabilities. De Finetti's representation theorem, which pertains to permutation symmetry, and ergodic theory (for abstract dynamical systems) provide illustrations of classical probabilistic theories. A number of features generally discussed in connection with quantum mechanics are already found in classical probability models. These include symmetry constraints and a general form for dynamical equations (analogous to Schroedinger's equation) as well as the sort of holism involved in ’non‐local’ correlations.

Ingemar Nordin

W. Michael Dickson

Romulo Siqueira Batista, Rodrigo Siqueira‐Batista, J. A. Helayël-Neto

The Research Group “Physics and Humanities”, based in the Brazilian Center of Physics Research (BCPR), has worked on building dialogues between Physics and Humanities, particularly regarding philosophical questions applied to quantum mechanics (QM). The present article intends to establish the relationship between questions concerning the discussion on chance versus necessity — in the context of ancient atomism — and the most recent theories on the nature of matter and the general state of the universe, notably the implications that the proposition of a unified theory of the world presents for the debate on determinism versus indetermination.