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Pisa University Press eBooks

Franco Selleri and his contribution to the starting of debate on Foundations of Quantum Mechanics : 1969-1971

Luigi Romano

Published Jan 1, 2020• 0 citations
Publisher
DOI
10.12871/978883339402243

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After World War II, a hyper-pragmatic paradigm was established in physics in most of the western countries, within which foundations of quantum mechanics were vastly dismissed as pointless speculations. In this paper, we show that in Italy, however, the interest toward quantum foundations was revived at the turn of the 1960s, mainly thanks to the initiative of Franco Selleri, who started criticising the contents and the practice of modern physics (in the context of capitalistic society), and thought that the solution was to be sought in a rethinking of the foundations of the discipline. In 1969, supported by Luis de Broglie himself, Selleri wrote a paper reviving the idea of hidden variables and he successfully proposed to the Italian Physical Society to devote the "Varenna School" of 1970 to quantum foundations. This school's historical pivotal importance is twofold: it gathered some of the most preeminent international physicists working on the foundations of quantum theory; and it provided a first platform for young physicists to express their dissatisfaction towards "scientism". In fact, Selleri's highly politicised views found the favour of a critical mass of young, left-wing physicists, who made of quantum foundations their main topic of research in the 1970s. Although these physicists understood very early the central importance of Bell's theorem, their (ideological) aim was to demonstrate that quantum theory could have limits of validity. Such a research program turned out to be unsuccessful, yet the Italian endeavour was worldwide one of the first and most significant revivals of the interest towards quantum foundations.

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Popper, probabilidade e mecânica quântica

Freire Jr., Olival

RESUMO: Este trabalho analisa idéias e atividades de Karl Popper referentes à controvérsia sobre interpretações e fundamentos da mecânica quântica. Atenção especial será dedicada às relações entre Popper e o físico italiano Franco Selleri, ao longo da década de 1980. A interpretação proposta por Popper para os enunciados probabilísticos como propensões, bem como seu ponto de vista realista, contribuíram para estabelecer uma ponte entre suas investigações filosóficas e a pesquisa física em mecânica quântica, ainda que sua idéia sobre as propensões tenha tido uma pequena repercussão entre físicos, matemáticos e filósofos. Argumentaremos neste trabalho que a influência de Popper na física foi possível devido à legitimação, a partir de 1970, da controvérsia sobre os fundamentos da teoria quântica como uma genuína controvérsia científica com implicações filosóficas. Popper foi beneficiado por essa legitimação, mas ele também contribuiu para fazer aquela controvérsia chegar a um público mais amplo que aquele dos físicos envolvidos na própria controvérsia. Palavras-chave: Popper, propensões, mecânica quântica, Selleri, ondas vazias. POPPER, PROBALITY AND QUANTUM MECHANICS Abstract: I intend to present in this paper Karl Popper’s ideas and activities concerning the controversy about the interpretations and foundations of quantum mechanics. I will pay special attention to Popper’s relationship with the Italian physicist Franco Selleri, during the 1980s. Popper’s ideas of propensity and realism contributed to build a bridge between his philosophy and physical research in quantum mechanics, even if his idea of propensity has had a weak reception among physicists, mathematicians and philosophers. I will argue that Popper’s contributions to physics were possible due to the legitimization in the 1970s of the controversy about the foundations of quantum mechanics, a process which permitted a trading zone between physics and philosophy. Popper was benefited by that process, but he also contributed to give to that controversy a larger audience than that of the physicists involved in that controversy. Keywords: Popper, propensities, quantum mechanics, Selleri, empty waves.

•Jun 1, 2004•2 citations

For Franco Selleri on His Seventieth Birthday

Gino Tarozzi, Alwyn van der Merwe

Foundations of Physics•Nov 1, 2004•4 citations
After World War II, a hyper-pragmatic paradigm was established in physics in most of the western countries, within which foundations of quantum mechanics were vastly dismissed as pointless speculations. In this paper, we show that in Italy, however, the interest toward quantum foundations was revived at the turn of the 1960s, mainly thanks to the initiative of Franco Selleri, who started criticising the contents and the practice of modern physics (in the context of capitalistic society), and thought that the solution was to be sought in a rethinking of the foundations of the discipline. In 1969, supported by Luis de Broglie himself, Selleri wrote a paper reviving the idea of hidden variables and he successfully proposed to the Italian Physical Society to devote the "Varenna School" of 1970 to quantum foundations. This school's historical pivotal importance is twofold: it gathered some of the most preeminent international physicists working on the foundations of quantum theory; and it provided a first platform for young physicists to express their dissatisfaction towards "scientism". In fact, Selleri's highly politicised views found the favour of a critical mass of young, left-wing physicists, who made of quantum foundations their main topic of research in the 1970s. Although these physicists understood very early the central importance of Bell's theorem, their (ideological) aim was to demonstrate that quantum theory could have limits of validity. Such a research program turned out to be unsuccessful, yet the Italian endeavour was worldwide one of the first and most significant revivals of the interest towards quantum foundations.
RESUMO: Este trabalho analisa idéias e atividades de Karl Popper referentes à controvérsia sobre interpretações e fundamentos da mecânica quântica. Atenção especial será dedicada às relações entre Popper e o físico italiano Franco Selleri, ao longo da década de 1980. A interpretação proposta por Popper para os enunciados probabilísticos como propensões, bem como seu ponto de vista realista, contribuíram para estabelecer uma ponte entre suas investigações filosóficas e a pesquisa física em mecânica quântica, ainda que sua idéia sobre as propensões tenha tido uma pequena repercussão entre físicos, matemáticos e filósofos. Argumentaremos neste trabalho que a influência de Popper na física foi possível devido à legitimação, a partir de 1970, da controvérsia sobre os fundamentos da teoria quântica como uma genuína controvérsia científica com implicações filosóficas. Popper foi beneficiado por essa legitimação, mas ele também contribuiu para fazer aquela controvérsia chegar a um público mais amplo que aquele dos físicos envolvidos na própria controvérsia. Palavras-chave: Popper, propensões, mecânica quântica, Selleri, ondas vazias. POPPER, PROBALITY AND QUANTUM MECHANICS Abstract: I intend to present in this paper Karl Popper’s ideas and activities concerning the controversy about the interpretations and foundations of quantum mechanics. I will pay special attention to Popper’s relationship with the Italian physicist Franco Selleri, during the 1980s. Popper’s ideas of propensity and realism contributed to build a bridge between his philosophy and physical research in quantum mechanics, even if his idea of propensity has had a weak reception among physicists, mathematicians and philosophers. I will argue that Popper’s contributions to physics were possible due to the legitimization in the 1970s of the controversy about the foundations of quantum mechanics, a process which permitted a trading zone between physics and philosophy. Popper was benefited by that process, but he also contributed to give to that controversy a larger audience than that of the physicists involved in that controversy. Keywords: Popper, propensities, quantum mechanics, Selleri, empty waves.