dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaRealism and the wave-function
| Authors | A. Matzkin |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0208018 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0208018 |
| DOI | 10.1088/0143-0807/23/3/307 |
| Journal | Eur. J . Phys. 23, 285 (2002) |
Abstract
Realism -- the idea that the concepts in physical theories refer to 'things' existing in the real world -- is introduced as a tool to analyze the status of the wave-function. Although the physical entities are recognized by the existence of invariant quantities, examples from classical and quantum physics suggest that not all the theoretical terms refer to the entities: some terms refer to properties of the entities, and some terms have only an epistemic function. In particular, it is argued that the wave-function may be written in terms of classical non-referring and epistemic terms. The implications for realist interpretations of quantum mechanics and on the teaching of quantum physics are examined.
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"abstract": "Realism -- the idea that the concepts in physical theories refer to \u0027things\u0027\nexisting in the real world -- is introduced as a tool to analyze the status of\nthe wave-function. Although the physical entities are recognized by the\nexistence of invariant quantities, examples from classical and quantum physics\nsuggest that not all the theoretical terms refer to the entities: some terms\nrefer to properties of the entities, and some terms have only an epistemic\nfunction. In particular, it is argued that the wave-function may be written in\nterms of classical non-referring and epistemic terms. The implications for\nrealist interpretations of quantum mechanics and on the teaching of quantum\nphysics are examined.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0208018",
"authors": [
"A. Matzkin"
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"doi": "10.1088/0143-0807/23/3/307",
"journal_ref": "Eur. J . Phys. 23, 285 (2002)",
"title": "Realism and the wave-function",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0208018"
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