IAFE   05512
INSTITUTO DE ASTRONOMIA Y FISICA DEL ESPACIO
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
The notion of possibility in the modal and many worlds interpretations of quantum mechanics
Autor/es:
G. DOMENECH, H. FREYTES AND C. DE RONDE
Lugar:
Bergamo
Reunión:
Congreso; Conferenza triennale della Società Italiana di Logica e Filosofia delle Scienze (SILFS 2010); 2010
Institución organizadora:
Società Italiana di Logica e Filosofia delle Scienze
Resumen:
Many worlds interpretations (MWIs) of quantum mechanics avoid the measurement problem by considering every term in the quantum superposition as actual. A seemingly opposed solution is proposed by modal interpretations (MIs) which state that quantum mechanics does not provide an account of what “actually is the case,” but rather deals with what “might be the case,” i.e., with possibilities. MIs as well as MWIs, attempt to provide a realistic account of quantum mechanics discussing about “systems which possess properties”. An important limitation which must be considered in this context is given by Kochen-Specker type contradictions which rule out the non-contextual assignment of values to physical magnitudes. In previous works we enriched the usual orthomodular structure of quantum mechanical propositions with modal operators. This enlargement allows us to refer consistently to actual and possible properties of the system within the same structure. We also developed a Modal Kochen-Specker theorem which allows us to prove that contextuality remains a central feature even in the enriched propositional system (1, 2). Furthermore, in (3), we provided an algebraic framework which allows us to analyze in depth the modal aspects of MWI. In this work, using our general formal scheme, we provide a comparison between MWI and MI. In particular, we attempt to analyze what is the meaning and interpretational role played by the concepts of possibility and actuality in both MWIs and MIs. (1) Domenech, G., Freytes, H. y de Ronde, C., 2006, “Scopes and limits of modality in quantum mechanics”, Annalen der Physik, 15, pp. 853-860.(2) Domenech, G., Freytes, H. y de Ronde, C., 2008, “A topological study of contextuality and modality in quantum mechanics”, International Journal of Theoretical Physics, 47, pp. 168-174.(3) Domenech, G., Freytes, H. y de Ronde, C., 2009b, “Many Worlds and Modality in the Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics: an Algebraic Approach”, Journal of Mathematical Physics, 50, 072108.