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Metaphysical Indeterminacy in Everettian Quantum Mechanics

Glick, David and Le Bihan, Baptiste (2023) Metaphysical Indeterminacy in Everettian Quantum Mechanics. [Preprint]

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Abstract

The question of whether Everettian quantum mechanics (EQM) justifies the existence of metaphysical indeterminacy has recently come to the fore. Metaphysical indeterminacy has been argued to emerge from three sources: coherent superpositions, the indefinite number of branches in the quantum multiverse and the nature of these branches. This paper reviews the evidence and concludes that those arguments don't rely on EQM alone and rest on metaphysical auxiliary assumptions that transcend the physics of EQM. We show how EQM can be ontologically interpreted without positing metaphysical indeterminacy by adopting a deflationary attitude towards branches. Two ways of developing the deflationary view are then proposed: one where branches are eliminated, and another where they are reduced to the universal quantum state.


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Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Glick, Daviddaglick@ucdavis.edu
Le Bihan, Baptistebaptiste.lebihan@unige.ch0000-0002-1245-1373
Additional Information: Forthcoming in the European Journal for Philosophy of Science
Keywords: Everettian quantum mechanics metaphysical indeterminacy branches emergence eliminativism reductionism
Subjects: General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics
General Issues > Determinism/Indeterminism
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Depositing User: Dr. Baptiste Le Bihan
Date Deposited: 27 Oct 2023 20:02
Last Modified: 27 Oct 2023 20:02
Item ID: 22714
Subjects: General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics
General Issues > Determinism/Indeterminism
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Date: 2023
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/22714

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