Berlin 2024 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

AGPhil: Arbeitsgruppe Philosophie der Physik

AGPhil 14: Quantum Mechanics

AGPhil 14.2: Talk

Thursday, March 21, 2024, 12:00–12:30, PTB SR AvHB

A Presupposition of Bell's Theorem — •Carsten Held — Untergraben 13, 99423 Weimar

The most prominent version of Bell's theorem consists of the Bell-CHSH inequality and a quantum-mechanical example that violates it. The inequality is shown to rest on the non-trivial presupposition that the values of elementary spin quantities are scalars, and not, e.g., vectors. In the version considered, the theorem's argument succeeds for scalars and fails for vectors. However, the reference to vector values can be motivated by the physics of spin. Hence, recognizing the presupposition suggests a critical reassessment of the theorem.

Keywords: Bell’s theorem, Bell-CHSH inequality, locality