Dealing with quantum weirdness: Holism and related issues

摘要

Various issues are discussed in interpretation of quantum mechanics. All these explorations point toward the same conclusion, that some systems are holistically connected, i.e., some composite systems have properties that cannot, even in principle, be reduced to the properties of its subsystems. This is argued to be the central metaphysical lesson of quantum theory; this will remain pertinent even if quantum mechanics gets replaced by a superior theory. Chap. 2 discusses nonlocality and rules out hidden-variable theories that approximately reproduce the perfect correlations of quantum mechanics, as well as theories that obey locality conditions weaker than those needed to derive Bell's inequality. Chap. 3 shows that SQUID experiments can rule out non-invasive measurability if not macrorealism. Chap. 4 looks at interpretational issues surrounding decoherence, the dissipative interaction between a system and its environment. Decoherence klcan help ''modal'' interpretations pick out the desired ''preferred'' basis. Chap. 5 explores what varieties of causation can and cannot ''explain'' EPR correlations. Instead of relying on ''watered down'' causal explanations, we should instead develop new, holistic explanatory frameworks.