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AGPhil: Arbeitsgruppe Philosophie der Physik

AGPhil 9: Quantum Foundations 5

AGPhil 9.4: Talk

Thursday, March 23, 2023, 15:30–16:00, JAN/0027

The Foundations of the Measurement Problem — Diana Taschetto¹ and •Ricardo Correa da Silva² — ¹Philosophy Department, University of São Paulo — ²Department of Mathematics, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg

The measurement problem is the most intensely investigated issue at the foundations of the quantum theory. Since what counts as a solution depends on how the problem is defined, a historical investigation of the development that has conditioned the standard formulation of the problem is most needful as a test of its adequacy. Quantum Mechanics is unique in the history of science in that it resulted from the axiomatized merging of two rival--yet putatively equivalent--theories, namely Matrix Mechanics and Wave Mechanics. In this talk, we shall present a new, detailed mathematical and conceptual analysis of the structures of Matrix and Wave Mechanics. It will follow that the measurement problem is a logical consequence of constructing Quantum Mechanics over a fabricated--and therefore fictitious--equivalence. Matrix and Wave Mechanics are not equivalent quantum theories, but their structures are related, in a way we shall demonstrate. The physical relevance of this relation, stated in exact mathematical terms, is that it gives us new insight into the nature of the measurement problem, enabling us to state it in a different, more general setting than it has been done heretofore, opening new paths in our search for solutions.