© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

Terms Privacy Legal Notice

Cambridge University Press eBooks

Others on EPR

Guido Bacciagaluppi, Elise Crull

Published Nov 14, 2024• 0 citations

Abstract

This chapter provides a complete list and brief analyses of published and unpublished responses to EPR in 1935 (virtually all of which are reprinted as later chapters in this book). We invite a renewed consideration of certain contributors not much discussed elsewhere in the literature. These include going beyond Kemble’s short criticism of EPR to his ensuing disagreement with Margenau about the viability of an ensemble interpretation of the wavefunction, and also a response to Kemble’s note on EPR by Podolsky himself. We also examine the correspondence between Margenau and Einstein in the wake of EPR, discussing the role of the collapse postulate, and finally we discuss two papers by Furry, which although not entirely satisfactory qua a response to EPR’s arguments, are nevertheless of great potential interest for the foundations literature more generally.

DOI: 10.1017/9781139028493.004

Related papers

Quantum-Mechanical Description

Guido Bacciagaluppi, Elise Crull

This is a reprinting of Margenau’s response to EPR (and to some extent, his evaluation of previous responses to EPR by Bohr, Kemble and Ruark). Margenau’s contribution to the EPR debate is certainly one of the most original, no doubt at least in part due to the meaty correspondence he had with Einstein while producing it. Margenau’s main strategy in this paper is to argue against the standard collapse postulate of quantum mechanics, suggesting that the EPR argument only applies to quantum mechanics with this postulate added. He also argues against the statistical interpretation of the collapse postulate suggested by Kemble and others.

Cambridge University Press eBooks•Nov 14, 2024•0 citations

States and Reality of Physical Systems

Guido Bacciagaluppi, Elise Crull

This is a reprinting from Jammer (1974) of Podolsky’s unpublished response to Kemble’s criticisms of the EPR paper. Podolsky rightly criticises Kemble for missing the point of EPR’s argument and adds a few comments agreeing with Kemble that a statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics is best – yet Podolsky maintains such an interpretation is incomplete.

Cambridge University Press eBooks•Nov 14, 2024•0 citations

The Correlation of Wave Functions with the States of Physical Systems

Guido Bacciagaluppi, Elise Crull

This is a reprinting of Edwin Kemble’s 1935 reply to the EPR paper. Kemble misses EPR’s point by taking their completeness criterion to be merely an epistemic concept; Kemble himself admits as much in a letter to Einstein later that year. His original response to EPR is nevertheless of interest, as Kemble there provides an argument for a statistical interpretation of the wavefunction – a view he attributes to Slater already in a 1929 paper, but for which Kemble provides greater clarity and motivation.

Cambridge University Press eBooks•Nov 14, 2024•0 citations

Physical Reality and Quantum Mechanics

Guido Bacciagaluppi, Elise Crull

This is a transcription of a typescript Kemble had appended to a letter to Margenau in 1935. In this paragraph, Kemble admits that his initial published response to EPR missed the point of their argument.

Cambridge University Press eBooks•Nov 14, 2024•0 citations

Note on the Quantum-Mechanical Theory of Measurement

Guido Bacciagaluppi, Elise Crull

This is a reprinting of Furry’s response to EPR. Although his response misses the mark, his discussion of an example is intriguing for other aspects of the foundations of quantum mechanics.

Cambridge University Press eBooks•Nov 14, 2024•0 citations

Heisenberg on EPR

Guido Bacciagaluppi, Elise Crull

This chapter introduces in more comprehensive fashion than elsewhere in the literature the interesting role of Heisenberg in the EPR debate. Although we have already published an analysis of Heisenberg’s posthumously published draft response to EPR, only now are we able to situate this excellent primary source in its fullest context, by contributing a chapter describing, for example, Heisenberg’s thinking prior to EPR about interacting systems and hidden variables, the crucial role of Grete Hermann for Heisenberg’s thinking about separability, completeness and observational context, and describing the correspondence between Heisenberg and Bohr discussing Heisenberg’s manuscript.

Cambridge University Press eBooks•Nov 14, 2024•0 citations

This chapter provides a complete list and brief analyses of published and unpublished responses to EPR in 1935 (virtually all of which are reprinted as later chapters in this book). We invite a renewed consideration of certain contributors not much discussed elsewhere in the literature. These include going beyond Kemble’s short criticism of EPR to his ensuing disagreement with Margenau about the viability of an ensemble interpretation of the wavefunction, and also a response to Kemble’s note on EPR by Podolsky himself. We also examine the correspondence between Margenau and Einstein in the wake of EPR, discussing the role of the collapse postulate, and finally we discuss two papers by Furry, which although not entirely satisfactory qua a response to EPR’s arguments, are nevertheless of great potential interest for the foundations literature more generally.

This is a reprinting of Margenau’s response to EPR (and to some extent, his evaluation of previous responses to EPR by Bohr, Kemble and Ruark). Margenau’s contribution to the EPR debate is certainly one of the most original, no doubt at least in part due to the meaty correspondence he had with Einstein while producing it. Margenau’s main strategy in this paper is to argue against the standard collapse postulate of quantum mechanics, suggesting that the EPR argument only applies to quantum mechanics with this postulate added. He also argues against the statistical interpretation of the collapse postulate suggested by Kemble and others.

This is a reprinting of Edwin Kemble’s 1935 reply to the EPR paper. Kemble misses EPR’s point by taking their completeness criterion to be merely an epistemic concept; Kemble himself admits as much in a letter to Einstein later that year. His original response to EPR is nevertheless of interest, as Kemble there provides an argument for a statistical interpretation of the wavefunction – a view he attributes to Slater already in a 1929 paper, but for which Kemble provides greater clarity and motivation.

This chapter introduces in more comprehensive fashion than elsewhere in the literature the interesting role of Heisenberg in the EPR debate. Although we have already published an analysis of Heisenberg’s posthumously published draft response to EPR, only now are we able to situate this excellent primary source in its fullest context, by contributing a chapter describing, for example, Heisenberg’s thinking prior to EPR about interacting systems and hidden variables, the crucial role of Grete Hermann for Heisenberg’s thinking about separability, completeness and observational context, and describing the correspondence between Heisenberg and Bohr discussing Heisenberg’s manuscript.