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A dilemma for relational quantum mechanics

Lewis, Peter (2024) A dilemma for relational quantum mechanics. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Relational quantum mechanics (RQM) is an interesting alternative to the standard responses to the measurement problem in quantum mechanics. But it suffers from a distinctive kind of epistemic solipsism: an observer can’t in principle know anything beyond their immediate present experience. This makes RQM self-undermining: it takes away the evidence we have for believing in quantum mechanics in the first place. Recently, Adlam and Rovelli have proposed a solution to this problem in the form of a new postulate they call cross-perspective links. Here I argue that this postulate does indeed solve the skeptical problem, but it also removes those aspects of RQM that make it distinctively relational. Nevertheless, the result of equipping RQM with cross-perspective links is an interesting interpretation in its own right.


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Item Type: Preprint
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Lewis, PeterJ.
Keywords: Relational quantum mechanics, solipsism, locality, explanation
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Depositing User: Peter J. Lewis
Date Deposited: 18 Aug 2024 06:07
Last Modified: 18 Aug 2024 06:07
Item ID: 23794
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Date: 13 August 2024
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/23794

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