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Why Be Regular? Part II

Feintzeig, Benjamin H. and Weatherall, James Owen (2018) Why Be Regular? Part II. [Preprint]

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Abstract

We provide a novel perspective on "regularity" as a property of representations of the Weyl algebra. In Part I, we critiqued a proposal by Halvorson [2004, "Complementarity of representations in quantum mechanics", Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 35(1), pp. 45--56], who advocates for the use of the non-regular "position" and "momentum" representations of the Weyl algebra. Halvorson argues that the existence of these non-regular representations demonstrates that a quantum mechanical particle can have definite values for position or momentum, contrary to a widespread view. In this sequel, we propose a justification for focusing on regular representations, pace Halvorson, by drawing on algebraic methods.


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Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Feintzeig, Benjamin H.bfeintze@uw.edu
Weatherall, James Owenweatherj@uci.edu
Keywords: regular representations, normal states, Weyl algebra, quantization, Halvorson
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Depositing User: James Owen Weatherall
Date Deposited: 15 May 2018 13:45
Last Modified: 15 May 2018 13:45
Item ID: 14670
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Date: 2018
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/14670

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