Quantum Mechanics on Spacetime I: Spacetime State Realism.
What ontology does realism about the quantum state suggest? The main extant view in contemporary philosophy of physics is wave-function realism. We elaborate the sense in which wave-function realism does provide an ontological picture, and defend it from certain objections that have been raised agai...
| Published in: | British Journal for the Philosophy of Science Vol. 61; no. 4; pp. 697 - 728 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article |
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University of Chicago Press
Dec2010
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=55533345&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 55533345 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00070882 BPL jtl: British Journal for the Philosophy of Science issn: 00070882 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Dec2010 vid: 61 iid: 4 pid: 415 pub: University of Chicago Press artinfo: ui: 55533345 10.1093/bjps/axq010 ppf: 697 ppct: 31 formats: tig: atl: Quantum Mechanics on Spacetime I: Spacetime State Realism. aug: au: Wallace, David Timpson, Christopher G. affil: Balliol College and Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, OX1 3BJ, UK Brasenose College and Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, OX1 4AJ, UK su: Realism Wave functions Quantum theory Physics Ontology sug: subj: Realism Wave functions Quantum theory Physics Ontology ab: What ontology does realism about the quantum state suggest? The main extant view in contemporary philosophy of physics is wave-function realism. We elaborate the sense in which wave-function realism does provide an ontological picture, and defend it from certain objections that have been raised against it. However, there are good reasons to be dissatisfied with wave-function realism, as we go on to elaborate. This motivates the development of an opposing picture: what we call spacetime state realism, a view which takes the states associated to spacetime regions as fundamental. This approach enjoys a number of beneficial features, although, unlike wave-function realism, it involves non-separability at the level of fundamental ontology. We investigate the pros and cons of this non-separability, arguing that it is a quite acceptable feature, even one which proves fruitful in the context of relativistic covariance. A companion paper discusses the prospects for combining a spacetime-based ontology with separability, along lines suggested by Deutsch and Hayden. 1 Introduction2 Prolegomena3 Wave-function Realism4 Problems with Wave-function Realism5 Spacetime State Realism6 Locality7 Non-unitary Dynamics on the Spacetime Ontology8 Relativity and Poincaré Covariance9 Finding the Appearances10 Conclusion pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y dt: @attributes: year: 2010 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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