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Can Modal Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics Be Reconciled with Relativity?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Joseph Berkovitz  and
Meir Hemmo
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Abstract

Modal interpretations are hidden-variable, no-collapse interpretations of quantum mechanics that were designed to solve the measurement problem and reconcile this theory with relativity. Yet, as no-go theorems by Dickson and Clifton (1998), Arntzenius (1998) and Myrvold (2002) demonstrate, current modal interpretations are incompatible with relativity. In the mainstream modal interpretations, properties of composite systems are generally unrelated to the properties of their subsystems. We propose holistic and relational interpretations of properties to explain this failure of property composition. Based on these interpretations, we consider strategies for circumventing Myrvold's theorem, which are also effective against the other two theorems.

Type
Quantum Mechanics
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 72 , Issue 5: Proceedings of the 2004 Biennial Meeting of The Philosophy of Science Association. Part I: Contributed Papers , December 2005 , pp. 789 - 801
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

‡

For comments and discussions, we are grateful to Wayne Myrvold and especially Itamar Pitowsky. For support, JB would like to thank the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, UMBC, the PPM Group, Konstanz University and the LSE Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science.

References

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