Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Oxford University Press eBooks

Quantum Mechanics

Bas C. van Fraassen

Published Sep 26, 1991• 464 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The author argues that quantum theory admits a plurality of interpretations, each aiding further understanding of the theory, but also advocating specifically the Copenhagen Variant of the Modal Interpretation. That variant is applied to topics like the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox and the problem of 'identical' particles.
DOI
10.1093/0198239807.001.0001

Related papers

Foreword

Enrico G. Beltrametti, Gianni Cassinelli, Peter Carruthers

For many years the physical interpretation of quantum theory has been dominated by the “wave-particle duality” attitude of the “Copenhagen school.” This point of view is eloquently described in Bohr's collection of essays on the subject. Despite persistent concerns with apparent paradoxes and limitations to this interpretation (as exemplified by Schrodinger's cat, the paradox of Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen, among others), the Copenhagen view persists de facto in the daily life of the modern physicist. Traditional quantum theory has so successfully explained such a vast amount of data in atomic and molecular physics, solid state physics (and to a lesser extent, elementary particle physics) that little doubt can exist concerning its essential validity. As a consequence of the overwhelming practical success of the “Copenhagen interpretation, ” the latter has acquired the status of dogma. For many years, therefore, most physicists have found it expedient to relegate the puzzling aspects of the theory to philosophers, and mathematicians. Nevertheless, a persistent interest in this subject has produced a significant and fascinating literature, reviewed by Jammer. In recent years, concerns over the proper meaning to be ascribed to quantum theory have produced an increasingly deep and incisive series of investigations. These investigations fall generally into two categories: either (1) discussion of the philosophical content of the theory, or (2) analyses of the mathematical variants of the theory and their connection with differing interpretational schemes. Physicists tend to be detached from a commitment to philosophical issues, because of their realization of the transient character of the meanings attached to theories of the day. As a simple illustration of this we can mention the profound differences between nonrelativistic and relativistic quantum mechanics.

Cambridge University Press eBooks•Dec 28, 1984•0 citations

Semiotic Interpretation of Probability in Quantum Mechanics

Martin Macháček

The presented dissertation deals with how to interpret the conception of reality within both the assumed metaphysical frameworks of the proponents of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox and the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. The hypothesis of the dissertation is based on assumption that EPR operated with presuppositions stemming from classical-physical determinism (e.g., the concept of particle independence) that, at the time of their paradox's formulation, no longer corresponded to the contemporary level of knowledge. In contrast, the Copenhagen interpretation operates with a concept of reality that significantly differs from the metaphysics of classical physics. This dissertation identifies the EPR proponents' approach to reality as philosophical foundationalism and interprets it using the philosophy and semiotics of Charles Sanders Peirce as a dualism that does not respect the essential role of representation in development of scientific theories. The aim is to present a metaphysical and semiotic framework that would be complementary to the interpretation of quantum mechanics as an indeterministic theory which understands the representation of probability and uncertainty inherent in quantum mechanical descriptions as intrinsic parts of the conception of reality, rather...

•Jan 1, 2025•0 citations

The Problems of Quantum Mechanics and Possible Solutions : Copenhagen Interpretation, Many Worlds Interpretation, Transactional Interpretation, Decoherence and Quantum Logic

Rochelle Forrester

•Jan 1, 2021•0 citations

On the problem of the interpretation of quantum physics

A A Grib

Current thinking on the interpretation of quantum physics is reviewed, with special detail given to the Copenhagen and Everett many-worlds interpretations.

arXiv:1404.2784•Physics-Uspekhi•Dec 4, 2013•17 citations

Identical Particles: Individuation and Modality

Bas C. van Fraassen

This chapter aims to place the discussion of holism in quantum theory generally and of the problem of identical particles and quantum statistics specifically in the context of general philosophy. Various debates in metaphysics, both historical and current, broach related subjects and involve analyses of concepts currently used in the philosophy of quantum mechanics. These include concepts of identity, individuation, essence, form, necessity, possibility, modality, contingency, and universality. But this chapter also extends the previous one by introducing Fock space and the transition from elementary quantum mechanics to quantum field theory via 'second quantization’. For this formalism relates clearly to certain ’anti‐essentialist’ approaches in the metaphysics of modality. Finally, in keeping with the empiricism pursued in this book, the general enterprise of metaphysics pertaining to those topics is viewed here within an anti‐metaphysical stance, as having as its value the display of a plurality of interpretations whose very diversity enhances our understanding of the theory.

Oxford University Press eBooks•Sep 26, 1991•0 citations

UNDERSTANDING LONG-DISTANCE QUANTUM CORRELATIONS

L. Marchildon

The interpretation of quantum mechanics (or, for that matter, of any physical theory) consists in answering the question: How can the world be for the theory to be true? That question is especially pressing in the case of the long-distance correlations predicted by Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen, and rather convincingly established during the past decades in various laboratories. I will review four different approaches to the understanding of long-distance quantum correlations: (i) the Copenhagen interpretation and some of its modern variants; (ii) Bohmian mechanics of spin-carrying particles; (iii) Cramer's transactional interpretation; and (iv) the Hess-Philipp analysis of extended parameter spaces.

arXiv:quant-ph/0608079•Beyond the Quantum•Sep 1, 2007•0 citations
For many years the physical interpretation of quantum theory has been dominated by the “wave-particle duality” attitude of the “Copenhagen school.” This point of view is eloquently described in Bohr's collection of essays on the subject. Despite persistent concerns with apparent paradoxes and limitations to this interpretation (as exemplified by Schrodinger's cat, the paradox of Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen, among others), the Copenhagen view persists de facto in the daily life of the modern physicist. Traditional quantum theory has so successfully explained such a vast amount of data in atomic and molecular physics, solid state physics (and to a lesser extent, elementary particle physics) that little doubt can exist concerning its essential validity. As a consequence of the overwhelming practical success of the “Copenhagen interpretation, ” the latter has acquired the status of dogma. For many years, therefore, most physicists have found it expedient to relegate the puzzling aspects of the theory to philosophers, and mathematicians. Nevertheless, a persistent interest in this subject has produced a significant and fascinating literature, reviewed by Jammer. In recent years, concerns over the proper meaning to be ascribed to quantum theory have produced an increasingly deep and incisive series of investigations. These investigations fall generally into two categories: either (1) discussion of the philosophical content of the theory, or (2) analyses of the mathematical variants of the theory and their connection with differing interpretational schemes. Physicists tend to be detached from a commitment to philosophical issues, because of their realization of the transient character of the meanings attached to theories of the day. As a simple illustration of this we can mention the profound differences between nonrelativistic and relativistic quantum mechanics.
The presented dissertation deals with how to interpret the conception of reality within both the assumed metaphysical frameworks of the proponents of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox and the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. The hypothesis of the dissertation is based on assumption that EPR operated with presuppositions stemming from classical-physical determinism (e.g., the concept of particle independence) that, at the time of their paradox's formulation, no longer corresponded to the contemporary level of knowledge. In contrast, the Copenhagen interpretation operates with a concept of reality that significantly differs from the metaphysics of classical physics. This dissertation identifies the EPR proponents' approach to reality as philosophical foundationalism and interprets it using the philosophy and semiotics of Charles Sanders Peirce as a dualism that does not respect the essential role of representation in development of scientific theories. The aim is to present a metaphysical and semiotic framework that would be complementary to the interpretation of quantum mechanics as an indeterministic theory which understands the representation of probability and uncertainty inherent in quantum mechanical descriptions as intrinsic parts of the conception of reality, rather...
This chapter aims to place the discussion of holism in quantum theory generally and of the problem of identical particles and quantum statistics specifically in the context of general philosophy. Various debates in metaphysics, both historical and current, broach related subjects and involve analyses of concepts currently used in the philosophy of quantum mechanics. These include concepts of identity, individuation, essence, form, necessity, possibility, modality, contingency, and universality. But this chapter also extends the previous one by introducing Fock space and the transition from elementary quantum mechanics to quantum field theory via 'second quantization’. For this formalism relates clearly to certain ’anti‐essentialist’ approaches in the metaphysics of modality. Finally, in keeping with the empiricism pursued in this book, the general enterprise of metaphysics pertaining to those topics is viewed here within an anti‐metaphysical stance, as having as its value the display of a plurality of interpretations whose very diversity enhances our understanding of the theory.
The interpretation of quantum mechanics (or, for that matter, of any physical theory) consists in answering the question: How can the world be for the theory to be true? That question is especially pressing in the case of the long-distance correlations predicted by Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen, and rather convincingly established during the past decades in various laboratories. I will review four different approaches to the understanding of long-distance quantum correlations: (i) the Copenhagen interpretation and some of its modern variants; (ii) Bohmian mechanics of spin-carrying particles; (iii) Cramer's transactional interpretation; and (iv) the Hess-Philipp analysis of extended parameter spaces.