The essence of quantum mechanics involves indistinguishability , superposition , Heisenberg's uncertainty principle , nonlocality of the photon , and Born's rule . As a whole, these concepts integrate the indeterminacy of quantum mechanics. Indistinguishability and superposition are quantum concepts that together with probability amplitudes are crucial coherent concepts that are part of the first layer of quantum mechanics. Albeit functioning at the mathematical unmeasurable realm of quantum physics, these concepts, nevertheless, faithfully reflect the reality of experimental configurations. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, nonlocality of the photon, and Born's rule manifest themselves in the second layer of quantum mechanics: the measurable realm . Here, all these five concepts are considered from the experimentalist's perspective. This chapter concludes with the observation that the essence of quantum mechanics is closely and intrinsically entangled with the ethos of physics: the experiment .
The essence of quantum mechanics involves indistinguishability , superposition , Heisenberg's uncertainty principle , nonlocality of the photon , and Born's rule . As a whole, these concepts integrate the indeterminacy of quantum mechanics. Indistinguishability and superposition are quantum concepts that together with probability amplitudes are crucial coherent concepts that are part of the first layer of quantum mechanics. Albeit functioning at the mathematical unmeasurable realm of quantum physics, these concepts, nevertheless, faithfully reflect the reality of experimental configurations. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, nonlocality of the photon, and Born's rule manifest themselves in the second layer of quantum mechanics: the measurable realm . Here, all these five concepts are considered from the experimentalist's perspective. This chapter concludes with the observation that the essence of quantum mechanics is closely and intrinsically entangled with the ethos of physics: the experiment .
Quantum mechanics is based on the concepts of indeterminacy , indistinguishability probability amplitudes , probabilities , reversibility , superposition , and uncertainty . And yet that is only part of the essence of quantum mechanics. Using the words attached to the concepts just described provides only a partial description of what quantum mechanics really is. The other part is provided by a set of physical and mathematical principles annexed to the mentioned concepts. The beauty is that quantum mechanics becomes workable and functional just by observing its mathematical principles. There is no need for any particular interpretation. Not even the orthodox interpretation. Here, fifteen mathematical-physical principles of quantum mechanics are listed and succinctly explained.
The quantumness of quantum mechanics is integrated by those properties and characteristics so unique to quantum mechanics that makes it an utterly extraordinary, and fascinating, branch of physics. And the beauty of it is that this quantumness has its origin in the very foundations of quantum physics built on experimental facts and thus they reflect the character of Nature itself. Indeterminacy , indistinguishability , nonlocality , uncertainty , and superposition are not the byproducts of some strange unverified theory but they are the characteristics of a brave experimentally based physics that has been verified by experiment time and time again. Add to this that most of the action in quantum physics takes place via probability amplitudes , that exist in a purely mathematical realm, and you have something superbly unique. Those are the elements that configure the quantumness of quantum mechanics, as discussed and described in this chapter.
This chapter completes the physical groundwork of the thesis by examining quantum mechanics, the second of the two theories that the following chapters interpret philosophically. Rather than offering an exhaustive mathematical treatment, it selects the concepts required to follow the two transversal principles identified in Chapter 3: causality and the principle of stationary action. It presents the emergence of the quantum of action, the formal structure of the theory (states, observables, Born’s rule, Schrödinger dynamics, superposition and entanglement), the double-slit experiment, the uncertainty principle, the measurement problem, and the sequence formed by the EPR argument, Bell’s theorem and its experimental tests. Using the three senses of causality distinguished in Chapter 3, the chapter shows that Heisenberg’s 1927 attempt to refute the law of causality did not succeed: unitary evolution preserves dynamical determination at the level of the quantum state, while the no-signalling condition and relativistic microcausality preserve causal precedence and causal propagation, even though Bell-local models fail. It then shows that action, present at the very birth of the theory as Planck’s quantum of action, governs quantum dynamics through Feynman’s path integral and Schwinger’s quantum action principle, and that the classical principle of stationary action re-emerges in the classical limit. The principal result, restricted to physics, is that causality and stationary action are transversal to classical, relativistic and quantum physics, although their mathematical formulation changes. Ontological conclusions are reserved for the following chapters.
Quantum interference and quantum entanglement are intrinsically ‘entangled’ at the most fundamental strata of quantum mechanics. In fact, John Clive Ward defined the whole of quantum mechanics in the following terms: ‘ the probability amplitude of quantum entanglement … was my first lesson in quantum mechanics, and in a very real sense my last, since all the rest is mere technique, which can be learnt from books. ’ Albeit Ward's opinion is somewhat colored by his ineffable genius, there is no doubt that quantum entanglement is at the foundations of quantum mechanics. Quantum entanglement encapsulates indeterminacy, superposition, and nonlocality with sublime cohesiveness. In this chapter we describe the fine details of the physics of quantum entanglement, free of paradoxes, its interferometric origin, and its generalized character.
This chapter provides a brief introduction to some key concepts of quantum theory that are contrasted with their classical analogs. By means of simple examples, the aim is to develop an intuition for notions such as quantum state, observables, superposition, Born’s rule, collapse of the wave function, Schrödinger’s equation, quantum interference, Heisenberg uncertainty, and incompatibility of observables. The hope is to provide a readable account on these core ideas of quantum theory that is accessible to readers from disciplines other than physics. The mathematical framework is developed from scratch, but some familiarity with basic linear algebra and probability theory will be assumed.
The present paper interprets quantum mechanics within the ontological framework of the Theory of Consciousness. The Theory posits consciousness as the sole ontological reality, formally described as a topological space, and derives all physical phenomena as manifestations of the local knowledge of the observer. Within this framework the five principal phenomena of quantum mechanics —superposition, wave-function collapse, the uncertainty principle, quantization, and entanglement — are shown to arise necessarily from the axiomatic ontological chain of consciousness without introducing new postulates. Quantum indeterminacy is reinterpreted not as a fundamental property of matter but as a structural limitation of the observer’s local knowledge. The Planck constant is identified with the minimum resolvable change of the knowledge structure of the quantum observer. The conceptual paradoxes of quantum mechanics—the measurement problem, non-locality, and the probabilistic nature of results — dissolve once consciousness is restored as the ontological foundation.