Quantum Mechanics: Historical Contingency and the Copenhagen HegemonyUniversity of Chicago Press, 1994 - 317 pages Why does one theory "succeed" while another, possibly clearer interpretation, fails? By exploring two observationally equivalent yet conceptually incompatible views of quantum mechanics, James T. Cushing shows how historical contingency can be crucial to determining a theory's construction and its position among competing views. Since the late 1920s, the theory formulated by Niels Bohr and his colleagues at Copenhagen has been the dominant interpretation of quantum mechanics. Yet an alternative interpretation, rooted in the work of Louis de Broglie in the early 1920s and reformulated and extended by David Bohm in the 1950s, equally well explains the observational data. Through a detailed historical and sociological study of the physicists who developed different theories of quantum mechanics, the debates within and between opposing camps, and the receptions given to each theory, Cushing shows that despite the preeminence of the Copenhagen view, the Bohm interpretation cannot be ignored. Cushing contends that the Copenhagen interpretation became widely accepted not because it is a better explanation of subatomic phenomena than is Bohm's, but because it happened to appear first. Focusing on the philosophical, social, and cultural forces that shaped one of the most important developments in modern physics, this provocative book examines the role that timing can play in the establishment of theory and explanation. |
Table des matières
Formalism Interpretation and Understanding | 9 |
THREE | 24 |
FOUR | 42 |
FIVE | 76 |
SEVEN | 113 |
EIGHT | 124 |
NINE | 144 |
ELEVEN | 199 |
Notes | 217 |
References | 273 |
301 | |
Autres éditions - Tout afficher
Quantum Mechanics: Historical Contingency and the Copenhagen Hegemony James T. Cushing Aucun aperçu disponible - 1994 |
Expressions et termes fréquents
actual appendix argument atomic basic beam Bell's theorem Bohm and Hiley Bohm's theory Bohmian mechanics Bohr Bohr's Broglie Broglie's causal causal interpretation chapter claim complementarity concept configuration space Copenhagen interpretation correlations Cushing David Bohm determinism deterministic discussion distribution Dürr Einstein electron empirical energy ensemble EPRB equivalence essentially existence experiment explanation formalism of quantum given Goldstein Heisenberg hidden variables hidden-variables initial interaction interpretation of quantum Jammer Kaloyerou laws logical mathematical matrix mechanics measurement microsystem motion Neumann's neutron nonlocality observed ontology particle Pauli Pauli equation phase phenomena philosophical physicists pilot-wave position possible predictions principle probability problem quan quantum equilibrium quantum mechanics quantum potential quantum theory realist result Schrödinger equation scientific theory Solvay congress space-time spin standard quantum mechanics statistical stochastic subsystem superposition theorem tion trajectories underdetermination Valentini vector velocity version of quantum Vigier wave function wave mechanics wave packet Zanghi