Quantum Dialogue

Beyond Bell?

In a recent archive post ([1]) Shan Gao has argued that quantum theory is incompatible with relativity. He calls this a new proof beyond Bell’s theorem, arguing elsewhere ([2]) that it closes the superdeterminism loophole in Bell’s theorem. Such strong claims must be backed up by irrefutable arguments. My aim in this post to the workshop “Beyond Bell’s theorem” is to refute Gao’s “proof”… Read more →

Reply to a Comment on “Role of Potentials in the Aharonov-Bohm Effect”

Lev Vaidman Preceding Comment challenged my claim that potentials might be just auxiliary mathematical tools and that they are not necessary for explaining physical phenomena. The Comment did not confront my explanation without potentials of the Aharonov-Bohm effects appeared in the original paper, but stated that I cannot apply this explanation for seven other examples. In my reply I provide… Read more →

Comment on “Role of potentials in the Aharonov-Bohm effect”

Yakir Aharonov, Eliahu Cohen, and Daniel Rohrlich Are the electromagnetic scalar and vector potentials dispensable? Vaidman [Phys. Rev. A 86, 040101(R) (2012)] has suggested that local interactions of gauge-invariant quantities, e.g., magnetic torques, suffice for the description of all quantum electromagnetic phenomena. We analyze six thought experiments that challenge this suggestion. All of them have explanations in terms of local interactions of gauge-dependent quantities, and,… Read more →

An argument against the realistic interpretation of the wave function

Carlo Rovelli Testable predictions of quantum mechanics are invariant under time reversal. But the change of the quantum state in time is not so, neither in the collapse nor in the no-collapse interpretations of the theory. This fact challenges the realistic interpretation of the quantum state. On the other hand, this fact follows easily if we interpret the quantum state… Read more →