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CRC Press eBooks

The Ontological Interpretation

Jonathan Allday

Published Sep 21, 2022• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The usual interpretation of the quantum theory is self-consistent, but it involves an assumption that cannot be tested experimentally, viz., that the most complete possible specification of an individual system is in terms of a wave function that determines only probable results of actual measurement processes. The term ‘ontological interpretation’ is sometimes applied to Bohm’s approach, as he set out to tackle the ontological problems of conventional quantum theory. However, the ontological interpretations are strikingly different. In the many worlds view, the differing branches are simultaneously and equally real, whereas Bohm’s inactive channels remain as unmanifested potentialities, with steadily declining likelihoods as more and more irreversible process (like measurement) pile up along the manifest branch. Bohm’s theory serves to illuminate some of the more interesting aspects of quantum theory (its contextuality and nonlocal nature) and demonstrates what is at stake from an ontological point of view.

DOI
10.1201/9781003225997-35

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The usual interpretation of the quantum theory is self-consistent, but it involves an assumption that cannot be tested experimentally, viz., that the most complete possible specification of an individual system is in terms of a wave function that determines only probable results of actual measurement processes. The term ‘ontological interpretation’ is sometimes applied to Bohm’s approach, as he set out to tackle the ontological problems of conventional quantum theory. However, the ontological interpretations are strikingly different. In the many worlds view, the differing branches are simultaneously and equally real, whereas Bohm’s inactive channels remain as unmanifested potentialities, with steadily declining likelihoods as more and more irreversible process (like measurement) pile up along the manifest branch. Bohm’s theory serves to illuminate some of the more interesting aspects of quantum theory (its contextuality and nonlocal nature) and demonstrates what is at stake from an ontological point of view.
We look into the ontology of quantum theory as distinct from that of the classical theory in the sciences, following a broadly Kantian tradition and distinguishing between the noumenal and phenomenal realities where the former is independent of our perception while the latter is assembled from the former by means of fragmentary bits of interpretation. Within this framework, theories are conceptual constructs applying to models generated in the phenomenal world within limited contexts.The ontology of quantum theory principally rests on the view that entities in the world are pervasively correlated with one another not by means of probabilities as in the case of the classical theory, but by means of probability amplitudes involving finely tuned phases of quantum mechanical states (entanglement). The quantum correlations are shared globally in the process of environment-induced decoherence whereby locally generated correlations are removed, the removal being especially manifest in the case of systems that appear as classical ones, in which case the process is almost instantaneous, being, in all likelihood, driven by field fluctuations in the Planck regime. This points to factors of an unknown nature determining its finest details, since Planck scale physics remains an obscure terrain. In other words, the present day quantum theory holds within a limited context set by the Planck scale.
The theme of phenomenology and quantum physics is here tackled by examining some basic interpretational issues in quantum physics. One key issue in quantum theory from the very beginning has been whether it is possible to provide a quantum ontology of particles in motion in the same way as in classical physics, or whether we are restricted to stay within a more limited view of quantum systems, in terms of complementary but mutually exclusive phenomena. In phenomenological terms we could describe the situation by saying that according to the usual interpretation of quantum theory (especially Niels Bohr's), quantum phenomena require a kind of epoch! (i.e. a suspension of assumptions about reality at the quantum level). However, there are other interpretations (especially David Bohm's) that seem to re-establish the possibility of a mind-independent ontology at the quantum level. We will show that even such ontological interpretations contain novel, non-classical features, which require them to give a special role to “phenomena” or “appearances”, a role not encountered in classical physics. We will conclude that while ontological interpretations of quantum theory are possible, quantum theory implies the need of a certain kind of epoch! even for this type of interpretations. While different from the epoch! connected to phenomenological description, the “quantum epoch!e” nevertheless points to a potentially interesting parallel between phenomenology and quantum philosophy. © 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
What is quantum mechanics about? The most natural way to interpret quantum mechanics realistically as a theory about the world might seem to be what is called wave function ontology: the view according to which the wave function mathematically represents in a complete way fundamentally all there is in the world. We argue that: • Strictly speaking, it is not possible to interpret quantum theories as theories about the wave function; • Even if the wave function is supplemented by additional non-ontological structures, there are reasons not to take the resulting theory seriously; • All quantum theories should be regarded as theories in which physical objects are constituted by a primitive ontology. The primitive ontology is mathematically represented in the theory by a mathematical entity in three-dimensional space, or space-time.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by , And that has made all the difference . Robert Frost (1916) The explanatory role of empty waves in quantum theory In this chapter we are concerned with two classes of interpretations of quantum mechanics: the epistemological (the historically dominant view) and the ontological. The first views the wave function as just a repository of (statistical) information on a physical system. The other treats the wave function primarily as an element of physical reality, whilst generally retaining the statistical interpretation as a secondary property. There is as yet only theoretical justification for the program of modelling quantum matter in terms of an objective spacetime process; that some way of imagining how the quantum world works between measurements is surely better than none. Indeed, a benefit of such an approach can be that “measurements” lose their talismanic aspect and become just typical processes described by the theory. In the quest to model quantum systems one notes that, whilst the formalism makes reference to “particle” properties such as mass, the linearly evolving wave function ψ( x ) does not generally exhibit any feature that could be put into correspondence with a localized particle structure. To turn quantum mechanics into a theory of matter and motion, with real atoms and molecules consisting of particles structured by potentials and forces, it is necessary to bring in independent physical elements not represented in the basic formalism. The notion of an “empty wave” is peculiar to those representatives of this class of extended theories which postulate that the additional physical element is a corpuscle-like entity or point particle. For clarity, we shall develop the discussion in terms of a definite model of this kind whose properties are well understood and which it is established reproduces the empirical content of quantum mechanics: the de Broglie–Bohm theory, a prominent representative of the class of ontological interpretations (Holland, 1993).
Emergent quantum mechanics explores the possibility of an ontology for quantum mechanics. The resurgence of interest in "deeper-level" theories for quantum phenomena challenges the standard, textbook interpretation. The book presents expert views that critically evaluate the significance—for 21st century physics—of ontological quantum mechanics, an approach that David Bohm helped pioneer. The possibility of a deterministic quantum theory was first introduced with the original de Broglie-Bohm theory, which has also been developed as Bohmian mechanics. The wide range of perspectives that were contributed to this book on the occasion of David Bohm’s centennial celebration provide ample evidence for the physical consistency of ontological quantum mechanics. The book addresses deeper-level questions such as the following: Is reality intrinsically random or fundamentally interconnected? Is the universe local or nonlocal? Might a radically new conception of reality include a form of quantum causality or quantum ontology? What is the role of the experimenter agent? As the book demonstrates, the advancement of ‘quantum ontology’—as a scientific concept—marks a clear break with classical reality. The search for quantum reality entails unconventional causal structures and non-classical ontology, which can be fully consistent with the known record of quantum observations in the laboratory.