Price, Huw (1978) An Assumption in the Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. [Preprint]

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Abstract

'In the ontological models framework [Harrigan & Spekkens 2007], it is assumed that the probability measure representing a quantum state is independent of the choice of future measurement setting.' (Leifer 2014, 140)

In this recently-unearthed piece I discuss a version of the above assumption, concluding that it is 'very difficult to justify on metaphysical grounds'. I note that abandoning it has an interesting potential payoff, given its crucial role in the no-go theorems of Bell and of Kochen & Specker. There has been increased interest in this option in recent years, under the label of retrocausal models of QM (see, e.g., Price & Wharton 2015, Wharton & Argaman 2020). The present piece may be of interest to diligent historians of this approach. It was written in 1978, while I was a graduate student in Cambridge.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Price, Huw hp331@cam.ac.uk 0000-0002-9091-760X
Keywords:	Quantum theory, retrocausality, ontological model
Subjects:	General Issues > Causation General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Depositing User:	Prof Huw Price
Date Deposited:	11 Nov 2020 05:05
Last Modified:	11 Nov 2020 05:05
Item ID:	18373
Subjects:	General Issues > Causation General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Date:	November 1978
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/18373

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