2017/10/21 by Jeremy Butterfield, Butterfield, Jeremy
Arts and Humanities · Physics and Astronomy · Psychology · #FOS: Physical sciences #History and Philosophy of Physics (physics.hist-ph) #Philosophy and History of Science #Philosophy and Theoretical Science #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1710.07844
openalex publication_date 2017/10/21 · openalex created_date 2022/09/26 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Can there be `peaceful coexistence' between quantum theory and special\nrelativity? Thirty years ago, Shimony hoped that isolating the culprit (i.e.\nthe false assumption) in proofs of Bell inequalities as Outcome Independence\nwould secure such peaceful coexistence: or, if not secure it, at least show a\nway---maybe the best or only way---to secure it.\n In this paper, I begin by being sceptical of Shimony's approach, urging that\nwe need a relativistic solution to the quantum measurement problem (Section 2).\nThen I analyse Outcome Independence in Kent's realist one-world\nLorentz-invariant interpretation of quantum theory (Sections 3 and 4). Then I\nconsider Shimony's other condition, Parameter Independence, both in Kent's\nproposal and more generally, in the light of recent remarkable theorems by\nColbeck, Renner and Leegwater (Section 5).\n For both Outcome Independence and Parameter Independence, there is a striking\nanalogy with the situation in pilot-wave theory. Finally, I will suggest that\nthese recent theorems make some kind of peaceful coexistence mandatory for\nsomeone who, like Shimony, endorses Parameter Independence.\n