Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1161289 Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 2010 8 Pages PDF
Abstract

The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics is the dominant view of the theory among working physicists, if not philosophers. There are, however, several strains of Copenhagenism extant, each largely accepting Born's assessment of the wave function as the most complete possible specification of a system and the notion of collapse as a completely random event. This paper outlines three of these sub-interpretations, typing them by what the author of each names as the trigger of quantum-mechanical collapse. Visions of the theory from von Neumann, Heisenberg, and Wheeler offer different mechanisms to break the continuous, deterministic, superposition-laden quantum chain and yield discrete, probabilistic, classical results in response to von Neumann's catastrophe of infinite regress.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Physics and Astronomy Physics and Astronomy (General)
Authors
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