Monday, July 15, 2013

The Oxford Questions

A new published paper on The Oxford Questions on the foundations of quantum physics, by G. A. D. Briggs, J. N. Butterfield, A. Zeilinger, starts:
1. The achievements of twentieth century physics

Much of the history of twentieth century physics is the story of the consolidation of the relativity and quantum revolutions, with their basic postulates being applied ever more widely. It is possible to forget how contingent, indeed surprising, it is that the basic postulates of relativity and quantum theory have proved to be so successful in domains of application far beyond their original ones. Why should the new chronogeometry, introduced by Einstein’s special relativity in 1905 [1] for electromagnetism, be extendible to mechanics, thermodynamics and other fields of physics?

1. Einstein A. 1905 On the electrodynamics of moving bodies.
Ann. Phys.17, 891–921.
No, Einstein did not introduce a new chronogeometry in 1905. He used the Lorentz transformations with the same geometry as previously by Lorentz and Poincare. The geometry of time was introduced by Poincare in 1905, and popularized by Minkowski in 1908.

The article moves on to these questions:
The Oxford Questions.
(1) Time, irreversibility, entropy and information
(a) Is irreversibility fundamental for describing the classical world?
(b) How is irreversibility involved in quantum measurement?
(c) What can we learn about quantum physics by using the notion of information?

(2) The quantum–classical relationships
(a) Does the classical world emerge from the quantum, and if so which concepts
are needed to describe this emergence?
(b) How should we understand the transition from observation to informed action?
(c) How can a single-world realistic interpretation of quantum theory be
compatible with non-locality and special relativity?

(3) Experiments to probe the foundations of quantum physics
(a) What experiments can probe macroscopic superpositions, including tests of
Leggett–Garg inequalities?
(b) What experiments are useful for large complex systems, including technological
and biological?
(c) How can the progressive collapse of the wave function be experimentally

(4) Quantum physics in the landscape of theories
(a) What insights are to be gained from category-theoretic, informational,
geometric and operational approaches to formulating quantum theory?
(b) What are productive heuristics for revisions of quantum theory?
(c) How does quantum physics cohere with space–time and with mass–energy?

(5) Interaction with questions in philosophy
(a) How do different aspects of the notion of reality influence our assessment of the
different interpretations of quantum theory?
(b) How do different concepts of probability contribute to interpreting quantum
They claim that there has been progress in hidden-variables and many-worlds theories. I don't believe it.

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