Many Worlds?: Everett, Quantum Theory, and Reality - Couverture rigide

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0199560560 ISBN 13 : 9780199560561

Editeur : Oxford University Press, 2010

Synopsis

What would it mean to apply quantum theory, without restriction and without involving any notion of measurement and state reduction, to the whole universe? What would realism about the quantum state then imply?

This book brings together an illustrious team of philosophers and physicists to debate these questions. The contributors broadly agree on the need, or aspiration, for a realist theory that unites micro- and macro-worlds. But they disagree on what this implies. Some argue that if unitary quantum evolution has unrestricted application, and if the quantum state is taken to be something physically real, then this universe emerges from the quantum state as one of countless others, constantly branching in time, all of which are real. The result, they argue, is many worlds quantum theory, also known as the Everett interpretation of quantum mechanics. No other realist interpretation of unitary quantum theory has ever been found.

Others argue in reply that this picture of many worlds is in no sense inherent to quantum theory, or fails to make physical sense, or is scientifically inadequate. The stuff of these worlds, what they are made of, is never adequately explained, nor are the worlds precisely defined; ordinary ideas about time and identity over time are compromised; no satisfactory role or substitute for probability can be found in many worlds theories; they can't explain experimental data; anyway, there are attractive realist alternatives to many worlds.

Twenty original essays, accompanied by commentaries and discussions, examine these claims and counterclaims in depth. They consider questions of ontology - the existence of worlds; probability - whether and how probability can be related to the branching structure of the quantum state; alternatives to many worlds - whether there are one-world realist interpretations of quantum theory that leave quantum dynamics unchanged; and open questions even given many worlds, including the multiverse concept as it has arisen elsewhere in modern cosmology. A comprehensive introduction lays out the main arguments of the book, which provides a state-of-the-art guide to many worlds quantum theory and its problems.

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

Simon Saunders is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford.


Jonathan Barrett is a Research Fellow in the Physics department at the University of Bristol


Adrian Kent is a Reader in Quantum Physics at the University of Cambridge


David Wallace is a lecturer in Philosophy of Physics at the University of Oxford

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford University Press
• Date d'édition: 2010
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0199560560
• ISBN 13: 9780199560561
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 636
• Éditeur: Saunders Simon, Barrett Jonathan, Kent Adrian, Wallace David
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Ufficio Anagrafiche Messaggerie; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8; Assago Milano; 20090; Italie