Blackshaw, Nadia and Franklin, Alexander (2026) Everettian Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics. [Preprint]
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Abstract
Encyclopedia Article
The Everett or Many Worlds interpretation is claimed to be the only realist interpretation that can recover the empirical success of quantum theory in its relativistic and non-relativistic variants, its advocates suggest that it does so without any additions to the physics. The modern (or Oxford) version of the theory depends on a functionalist or patterns-based ontology that, while defended in other contexts in the philosophy of science, remains philosophically controversial. This version identifies branching events and selection of the branching basis with the physical processes of decoherence, and is thus dependent on developments of physical models for decoherence. Probability within Everettian theories is strongly contested and it's unclear whether the many distinct resolutions in the literature are mutually incompatible and thus undermine one another or should provide succour to the theory’s advocates on the grounds that at least one of them may be right.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | |||||||||
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| Additional Information: | Intended for Comprehensive Philosophy of Science, published by Elsevier | |||||||||
| Keywords: | Everettian quantum mechanics; Everett theory; Many Worlds interpretation | |||||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics |
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| Depositing User: | Dr Alexander Franklin | |||||||||
| Date Deposited: | 06 Mar 2026 13:24 | |||||||||
| Last Modified: | 11 Mar 2026 00:45 | |||||||||
| Item ID: | 28450 | |||||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics |
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| Date: | 6 March 2026 | |||||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/28450 |
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