Quantum Mechanics

An Empiricist View

Bas C. van Fraassen (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

558 Seiten

1991
Clarendon Press (Verlag)
978-0-19-824861-3 (ISBN)

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After introducing the empiricist point of view in philosophy of science, and the concepts and methods of the semantic approach to scientific theories, Professor van Fraassen discusses quantum theory in three stages. He first examines the question of whether and how empirical phenomena require a non-classical theory, and what sort of theory they require. He then discusses the mathematical foundations of quantum theory with special reference to developments in the modelling of interaction, composite systems, and measurement. Finally, the author broaches the main questions of interpretation. After offering a critique of earlier interpretations, he develops a new one - the modal interpretation - which attempts to stay close to the original Copenhagen ideas without implying a radical incompleteness in quantum theory. He gives special attention to the character of composite, many-body systems and especially to the peculiar character of assemblies of identical particles in quantum statistics.

The Scientific Image by van Fraassen, published by OUP in 1980, was co-winner of the Franklin J. Matchette Prize for a work of outstanding philosophic merit, and of the Lakatos Award for an outstanding contribution to the philosophy of science. It sold 4500 copies. More recently came Laws and Symmetry (1989), which has sold around 3000.

Part 1 Determinism and inderterminism in classical perspective: determinism; indeterminism and probability. Part 2 How the phenomena demand quantum theory: the empirical basis of quantum theory; new probability models and their logic. Part 3 Mathematical foundations: the basic theory of quantum mechanics; composite systems, interaction, and measurement. Part 4 Questions of interpretation: critique of the standard interpretation; modal interpretation of quantum mechanics; EPR - when is a correlation not a mystery?; the problem of identical particles; indentical particles - individuation and modality.

Erscheint lt. Verlag	26.9.1991
Zusatzinfo	text-figures
Verlagsort	Oxford
Sprache	englisch
Maße	144 x 224 mm
Gewicht	812 g
Themenwelt	Mathematik / Informatik ► Mathematik ► Angewandte Mathematik
Themenwelt	Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Quantenphysik
ISBN-10	0-19-824861-X / 019824861X
ISBN-13	978-0-19-824861-3 / 9780198248613
Zustand	Neuware