Epr, Bell, and Collapse
A Route Around “Stochastic” Hidden Variables
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10706177 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Geoffrey Hellman (0000-0001-5559-4932, Twin Cities Orthopedics, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1987 |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 558-576 |
| Publication date | 1987-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-8248 • E-ISSN: 1539-767X |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1086/289405 |
| OpenAlex | W2029347740 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 22 |
Two EPR arguments are reviewed, for their own sake, and for the purpose of clarifying the status of “stochastic“ hidden variables. The first is a streamlined version of the EPR argument for the incompleteness of quantum mechanics. The role of an anti-instrumentalist (“realist”) interpretation of certain probability statements is emphasized. The second traces out one horn of a central foundational dilemma, the collapse dilemma; complex modal reasoning, similar to the original EPR, is used to derive determinateness (of all spin components of two spin-1⁄2 particles in the singlet state) from just (a form of) weak locality, result definiteness, and an assumption on propensities based on conservation. Theories meeting these conditions are therefore constrained by the Bell inequalities. Neither controversial assumptions of “strong locality” (“factorability”) nor of determinism are employed in the derivation. The categories of “stochastic hidden variables” are then analyzed; one can focus on “quasi-definite” theories, without loss of generality. A means of excluding these is proposed, based on a demand that certain ideal cases be accurately treated. Theorems from quantum measurement theory, sometimes cited as showing that such cases are not physically possible, are found inapplicable
Argument (complex analysis) · Determinism · Dilemma · Epistemology · EPR paradox · Generality · Hidden variable theory · Interpretation (philosophy) · Interpretations of quantum mechanics · Locality · Mathematical economics · Physics · Principle of locality · Quantum · Quantum entanglement · Quantum mechanics · Quantum nonlocality · Quantum process · Randomness · Statistics · Theoretical physics · Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics · Computer Science · Mathematics · Philosophy · Quantum Information and Cryptography · Quantum Mechanics and Applications
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.08 |
| Citation span | 1990 - 1995 (6) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |