The Meaning of the Wave Function: In Search of the Ontology of Quantum Mechanics

Reviewed by Peter J. Lewis, Dartmouth College Shan Gao (2017), The Meaning of the Wave Function: In Search of the Ontology of Quantum Mechanics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Shan Gao has written an exemplary book on the nature of the wave function—its theoretical role, the ontology it represents, and how understanding this ontology can contribute to solving the measurement problem…. Read more →

Weekly Papers on Quantum Foundations (12)

Taking Heisenberg’s Potentia Seriously. (arXiv:1709.03595v5 [quant-ph] UPDATED)  quant-ph updates on arXiv.org on 2018-3-23 12:59am GMT Authors: R. E. Kastner, Stuart Kauffman, Michael Epperson It is argued that quantum theory is best understood as requiring an ontological duality of res extensa and res potentia, where the latter is understood per Heisenberg’s original proposal, and the former is roughly equivalent to Descartes’ ‘extended substance.’ However,… Read more →

Beyond the Dynamical Universe: Unifying Block Universe Physics and Time as Experienced

Theoretical physics and foundations of physics have not made much progress in the last few decades. Whether we are talking about unifying general relativity and quantum field theory (quantum gravity), explaining so-called dark energy and dark matter (cosmology), or the interpretation and implications of quantum mechanics and relativity, there is no consensus in sight. In addition, both enterprises are deeply… Read more →

Weekly Papers on Quantum Foundations (11)

Quantum Field Theory With No Zero-Point Energy. (arXiv:1803.05823v1 [hep-th])  hep-th updates on arXiv.org on 2018-3-17 4:45am GMT Authors: John R. Klauder Traditional quantum field theory can lead to enormous zero-point energy, which markedly disagrees with experiment. Unfortunately, this situation is built into conventional canonical quantization procedures. For identical classical theories, an alternative quantization procedure, called affine field quantization, leads to the… Read more →

Weekly Papers on Quantum Foundations (10)

On the Nature of Discrete Space-Time: The distance formula, relativistic time dilation and length contraction in discrete space-time. (arXiv:1803.03126v1 [physics.gen-ph])  gr-qc updates on arXiv.org on 2018-3-10 1:42am GMT Authors: David Crouse, Joseph Skufca In this work, the relativistic phenomena of Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction and time dilation are derived using a modified distance formula that is appropriate for discrete space. This new distance formula… Read more →

Weekly Papers on Quantum Foundations (9)

Emergent gravity from relatively local Hamiltonians and a possible resolution of the black hole information puzzle. (arXiv:1803.00556v1 [hep-th])  hep-th updates on arXiv.org on 2018-3-02 1:31pm GMT Authors: Sung-Sik Lee In this paper, we study a possibility where gravity and time emerge from quantum matter. Within the Hilbert space of matter fields defined on a spatial manifold, we consider a sub-Hilbert space… Read more →

Weekly Papers on Quantum Foundations (8)

Would quantum entanglement be increased by anti-Unruh effect?. (arXiv:1802.07886v1 [gr-qc])  hep-th updates on arXiv.org on 2018-2-24 1:22pm GMT Authors: Taotao Li, Baocheng Zhang, Li You We study the “anti-Unruh effect” for an entangled quantum state in reference to the counterintuitive cooling previously pointed out for an accelerated detector coupled to the vacuum. We show that quantum entanglement for an initially entangled (spacelike separated)… Read more →

Weekly Papers on Quantum Foundations (7)

Thinking Outside the Quantum Box  Scientific American Content: Global on 2018-2-16 12:00pm GMT How the mind can make sense of quantum physics in more ways than one — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com        show enclosure Information-reality complementarity: The role of measurements and quantum reference frames  PRA: Fundamental concepts on 2018-2-16 10:00am GMT Author(s): P. R. Dieguez and R. M. Angelo… Read more →

Weekly Papers on Quantum Foundations (6)

Gravitation in terms of observables. (arXiv:1802.02661v1 [gr-qc])  hep-th updates on arXiv.org on 2018-2-10 12:53am GMT Authors: Rodolfo Gambini, Jorge Pullin In the 1960’s, Mandelstam proposed a new approach to gauge theories and gravity based on loops. The program for gauge theories was completed for Yang–Mills theories by Gambini and Trias in the 1980’s. Gauge theories could be understood as representations of certain… Read more →