Nonseparability, Potentiality and the Context-Dependence of Quantum Objects

Karakostas, Vassilios (2008) Nonseparability, Potentiality and the Context-Dependence of Quantum Objects.

Abstract

Standard quantum mechanics undeniably violates the notion of separability that classical
physics accustomed us to consider as valid. By relating the phenomenon of quantum nonseparability to the
all-important concept of potentiality, we effectively provide a coherent picture of the puzzling entangled
correlations among spatially separated systems. We further argue that the generalized phenomenon of
quantum nonseparability implies contextuality for the production of well-defined events in the quantum
domain, whereas contextuality entails in turn a structural-relational conception of quantal objects, viewed as
carriers of dispositional properties. It is finally suggested that contextuality, if considered as a
conditionalization preparation procedure of the object to be measured, naturally leads to a separable concept
of reality whose elements are experienced as distinct, well-localized objects having determinate properties.
In this connection, we find it necessary to distinguish the meaning of the term reality from the criterion of
reality for us. The implications of the latter considerations for the notion of objectivity in quantum
mechanics are also discussed.