Pashby, Thomas (2013) Time and Quantum Theory: A History and Prospectus. In: [2013] Workshop on Cosmology and Time (State College, PA; 16-17 April 2013).
Abstract
In this paper I am concerned with analyzing in detail how ideas and expectations regarding the role of time in quantum theory arose and evolved in the early years of quantum mechanics (from 1925-27). The general theme is that expectations which seemed reasonable from the point of view of matrix mechanics and Dirac's q-number formalism became implausible in light of Dirac-Jordan transformation theory, and were dashed by von Neumann's Hilbert space formalism which came to replace it. Nonetheless, I will identify two concerns that remain relevant today, and which blunt the force of Hilgevoord's (2005) claim that the demand that time feature as an observable arose as the result of a simple conceptual error.
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