Genesis of concept of quantum entanglement is explored in context of the controversy regarding the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen thought experiment and, more broadly, the debate about the completeness of quantum mechanics. Taking into account the concepts of mixture and statistical operator, which were introduced by von Neumann and borrowed by Schrödinger, it is argued that the concept of entanglement is not necessary in quantum physics. The in-depth comparative analysis of some Schrödinger’s, von Neumann’s, and Landau’s theoretical works concludes that presentation of a complex quantum system as a quasi-mechanical aggregate was gradually being overcome. Its objective wholeness was being substantiated. Therefore, wholeness is inherent not only to quantum phenomena, but also to quantum systems themselves. Complete explanation of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen thought experiment requires consideration of both these appearances of the quantum wholeness. Therefore, main result of the long-term discussion of the EPR thought experiment is the exhaustive recognition of wholeness of quantum reality. Study of "the rise and fall" of the quantum entanglement concept, as well as Bohr's substantiation of the concept of wholeness of phenomenon, confirm irreducibility of the Universe to a set of Democritus' atoms and their combinations, aggregates. Moreover, all these enrich picture of the Universe as an undivided wholeness, which is revolutionary replacement for the still popular worldview in the spirit of Democritus. Analysis of contemporary use of the concept of entanglement finds out that, on the one hand, it grasps undividedness, wholeness of complex quantum systems of various kinds and, thus, is an instrument of rational holism. However, on the other hand, the concept of entanglement was call into life within the framework of imagining quantum systems as quasi-classical aggregates. Until now, this results in a shallow everyday-descriptive understanding of it, in principally limited attempts to model or think holistic systems as a set of separate objects, albeit in any entangled states.
Genesis of concept of quantum entanglement is explored in context of the controversy regarding the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen thought experiment and, more broadly, the debate about the completeness of quantum mechanics. Taking into account the concepts of mixture and statistical operator, which were introduced by von Neumann and borrowed by Schrödinger, it is argued that the concept of entanglement is not necessary in quantum physics. The in-depth comparative analysis of some Schrödinger’s, von Neumann’s, and Landau’s theoretical works concludes that presentation of a complex quantum system as a quasi-mechanical aggregate was gradually being overcome. Its objective wholeness was being substantiated. Therefore, wholeness is inherent not only to quantum phenomena, but also to quantum systems themselves. Complete explanation of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen thought experiment requires consideration of both these appearances of the quantum wholeness. Therefore, main result of the long-term discussion of the EPR thought experiment is the exhaustive recognition of wholeness of quantum reality. Study of "the rise and fall" of the quantum entanglement concept, as well as Bohr's substantiation of the concept of wholeness of phenomenon, confirm irreducibility of the Universe to a set of Democritus' atoms and their combinations, aggregates. Moreover, all these enrich picture of the Universe as an undivided wholeness, which is revolutionary replacement for the still popular worldview in the spirit of Democritus. Analysis of contemporary use of the concept of entanglement finds out that, on the one hand, it grasps undividedness, wholeness of complex quantum systems of various kinds and, thus, is an instrument of rational holism. However, on the other hand, the concept of entanglement was call into life within the framework of imagining quantum systems as quasi-classical aggregates. Until now, this results in a shallow everyday-descriptive understanding of it, in principally limited attempts to model or think holistic systems as a set of separate objects, albeit in any entangled states.
Concept of quantum entanglement, its role in physics, philosophy, and in updating general worldview are studied in this article. It is pointed out that Schrodinger introduced this concept and some derivatives from it into description of physical reality in the 1935 article in the context of discussion around the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen thought experiment, but in the related 1936 publication he did not use them. Taking into account the concepts of a mixture and statistical operator, which were introduced by von Neumann and borrowed by Schrödinger, it is shown that the concept of entanglement is not necessary in quantum mechanics unconditionally. At a certain moment of development of the complex quantum systems theory, this concept and its derivatives served as not very successful substitutes for the concepts of a mixture, situation of a mixture. Comparative analysis of some Schrödinger’s, von Neumann’s, and Landau’s theoretical works concludes that imagination of a complex quantum system as a quasi-mechanical aggregate was gradually being overcome; its objective wholeness was being substantiated instead. Therefore, wholeness is inherent not only to quantum phenomena, but also to quantum systems by itself, objectively. By the essence, just the attempt to think this circumstance had brought into life the concept of quantum entanglement. The concept of a mixture and its substitutes – the concepts of entangled state, entanglement, etc. – have not only the scientific but some metaphysical meaning as well: they prove the possibility of rational thinking of wholeness, the reasonableness and effectiveness of rational holism. Therefore, the metaphysics of quantum entanglement in its correct understanding is a manifestation of the rational holism metaphysics. Complete explanation of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen thought experiment requires consideration of both these appearances of the quantum wholeness. One can say the essential result of long-term discussion of the EPR experiment is the exhaustive recognition of the quantum reality wholeness. A row of generalizations achieved by A. Alexandrov, I. Tsekhmistro, and D.Bohm are considered. Together with the completed study of the concept of quantum entanglement or Bohr's substantiation of the concept of undivided quantum phenomenon, they support irreducibility of physical reality, the Universe in general to any set of Democritian atoms and their countless combinations, aggregates. All this enriches and improves the understanding of the Universe as a real wholeness. Perhaps, this understanding will be newest substitution for the hitherto popular worldview in the spirit of Democritus.
Idea of quantum entanglement is discussed in the context of debate about the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen thought experiment and some theoretical studies of quantum systems. It is noted that Schrödinger invented this idea in 1935 in order to fix some features of the quantum-mechanical description of two systems with temporary interaction. However, he did not grasp essence of these features really. In view of the concepts of mixture and statistical operator proposed by von Neumann and adopted by Schrödinger in 1936, it is argued that the idea of entanglement and related terminology are not necessary in quantum mechanics. One can use this idea and terms "entanglement" etc. as "visual" surrogates for the "mixture – statistical operator" pair. Deeper comparative analysis of several theoretical works by Schrödinger, von Neumann, and Landau showed that the modeling of non-trivial complex quantum systems as quasi-classical aggregates has been gradually overcome. Instead, wholeness of such quantum systems was actually recognized step by step. Thus, wholeness is immanent not only to quantum phenomena, as Niels Bohr had argued, but also to the quantum systems themselves, objectively. The pair "mixture – statistical operator" and especially the pair "mixed state – density matrix" similar to it appear to be adequate tools to comprehend and describe wholeness of diverse quantum reality. It is insisted, it is advisable to understand the surrogate idea of entanglement and relevant terminology in the same sense. In mature quantum paradigm, they are possible but not necessary theoretical tools to grasp wholeness of reality. Respectively, acceptable understanding of quantum entanglement must be based on recognition of quantum wholeness. Philosophically speaking, the idea of entanglement is understandable and conditionally acceptable in the view of contemporary rational holism, or holistic rationality. The clarified understanding of quantum entanglement, as well as Bohr's substantiation of wholeness of quantum phenomena, demonstrates irreducibility of the Universe to any quasi-classical aggregate. Moreover, all this supports the view of the Universe as real wholeness, which rational holism intends to grasp. It is concluded, further development and regular implementation of rational holism have the undoubted potential for revolutionary replacement of the hitherto widespread worldview in the spirit of Democritus and pure analytical methodology of knowledge.
How it all began In 1935, a decade after the invention of quantum theory by Heisenberg (1925) and Schrödinger (1926), three papers appeared, setting the stage for a new concept, quantum entanglement. The previous decade had already seen momentous discussions on the meaning of the new theory, for example by Niels Bohr (see his contribution to Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist in Further reading); but these new papers opened up the gates for a new, very deep philosophical debate about the nature of reality, about the role of knowledge, and about their relation. Since the 1970s, it has become possible for experimenters to observe entanglement directly in the laboratory and thus test the counter-intuitive predictions of quantum mechanics whose confirmation today is beyond reasonable doubt. Since the 1990s, the conceptual and experimental developments have led to new concepts in information technology, including such topics as quantum cryptography, quantum teleportation, and quantum computation, in which entanglement plays a key role. In the first of the three papers, Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR) realized that, if two particles had interacted in their past, their properties will remain connected in the future in a novel way, namely, observation on one determines the quantum state of the other, no matter how far away. Their conclusion was that quantum mechanics is incomplete and they expressed their belief that a more complete theory may be found. Niels Bohr replied that the two systems may never be considered independent of each other, and observation on one changes the possible predictions on the other. Finally, Erwin Schrödinger, in the paper which also proposed his famous cat paradox, coined the term “entanglement” (in German Verschränkung ) for the new situation and he called it “not one, but the essential trait of the new theory, the one which forces a complete departure from all classical concepts.”
We argue that the so-called entangled states in quantum theory are not something exceptional, deserving a special attention in our efforts to understand conceptual foundations of quantum world. They appear by constructing the basis states of a compound system via the basis states of entering subsystems and describe it as a wholeness. While a system is considered as a wholeness, the individual members, forming the entangled state, have no physical meaning. In consequence, there is no physical ground for Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen (EPR) correlations arising in a process of decaying the system, being in the entangled state, into its constituent parts. The same regards to Bell's introduced non-locality of quantum world.
The “spooky action at a distance” and consequently quantum entanglement of physical systems/particles has been debated ever since the famous paper of Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen-EPR Paradox (Einstein et al., 1935). In spite of being considered of highly controversial, there has been a considerable amount of work so far addressing the issue and many scientifically successful experiments were recently carried out proving that the entanglement is a physical reality (Horodecki et al., 2009). The influence of quantum mechanics and entanglement has been far from the imagination of most scientists, eventually reaching to the ultimate concept of consciousness/mind. The entanglement theory, its connection to the consciousness/mind and finally the entanglement theory of consciousness/mind therefore demands pure scientific interest. In order to maintain the requirements, the present work firstly summarizes the quantum entanglement theory together with its relations with Bell’s inequality and finally describes an “entanglement model of consciousness/mind”.
We argue that the so-called entangled states in quantum theory are not something exceptional, deserving a special attention in our efforts to understand conceptual foundations of quantum world. They appear by constructing the basis states of a compound system via the basis states of entering subsystems and describe it as a wholeness. While a system is considered as a wholeness, the individual members, forming the entangled state, have no physical meaning. In consequence, there is no physical ground for Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen (EPR) correlations arising in a process of decaying the system, being in the entangled state, into its constituent parts. The same regards to Bell’s introduced non-locality of quantum world. 1