dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaBohr's Conception of the Quantum Mechanical State of a System and Its Role in the Framework of Complementarity
| Authors | Henry J. Folse |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0210075 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0210075 |
Abstract
What Niels Bohr called the `epistemological lesson' of `complementarity' was the result of reasoning analogically from the classical conception of a mechanical state to a new quantum mechanical conception of an `object' in a mechanical state. Bohr proposed to redefine the `objectivity' essential for scientific description in terms of the epistemological demand for unambiguously communicable descriptions of observational results, a move which has profound consequences for how we can understand the concept of the quantum mechanical state and the nature of the `system' which is `in' this state. Here it is argued that the old notion of the `object' which is in a classical mechanical state is drawn from a substance/property ontology derived from Aristotle's analysis of categorical propositions. In moving to describing a system in a quantum mechanical state, the system that is `in' such a state can no longer be so regarded as a substance possessing properties. Bohr argues that the concept refers to an interaction which has a feature of wholeness or `individuality' that implies that the distinction between `object system' and `observing system' is relative to the context of the description. This conclusion, in turn, implies the need for a combination of complementary modes of description; however, because of his reticence in making ontological claims, he failed to develop this dimension of his new framework of complementarity.
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"abstract": "What Niels Bohr called the `epistemological lesson\u0027 of `complementarity\u0027 was\nthe result of reasoning analogically from the classical conception of a\nmechanical state to a new quantum mechanical conception of an `object\u0027 in a\nmechanical state. Bohr proposed to redefine the `objectivity\u0027 essential for\nscientific description in terms of the epistemological demand for unambiguously\ncommunicable descriptions of observational results, a move which has profound\nconsequences for how we can understand the concept of the quantum mechanical\nstate and the nature of the `system\u0027 which is `in\u0027 this state. Here it is\nargued that the old notion of the `object\u0027 which is in a classical mechanical\nstate is drawn from a substance/property ontology derived from Aristotle\u0027s\nanalysis of categorical propositions. In moving to describing a system in a\nquantum mechanical state, the system that is `in\u0027 such a state can no longer be\nso regarded as a substance possessing properties. Bohr argues that the concept\nrefers to an interaction which has a feature of wholeness or `individuality\u0027\nthat implies that the distinction between `object system\u0027 and `observing\nsystem\u0027 is relative to the context of the description. This conclusion, in\nturn, implies the need for a combination of complementary modes of description;\nhowever, because of his reticence in making ontological claims, he failed to\ndevelop this dimension of his new framework of complementarity.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0210075",
"authors": [
"Henry J. Folse"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"title": "Bohr\u0027s Conception of the Quantum Mechanical State of a System and Its Role in the Framework of Complementarity",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0210075"
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