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Van Fraassen's Modal Model of Quantum Mechanics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2022

Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Cartwright*
Affiliation:
Stanford University
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Extract

Bas van Fraassen in [4] has recently tried to use modal logic to solve the measurement problem of quantum mechanics. His model is based on a method of expressing quantum states developed by Hugh Everett [1] called the “relative state formulation.” Unfortunately, Everett's mathematics cannot be generalized as van Fraassen requires. The difficulty itself is elementary enough. But a revision of van Fraassen's postulates (such as the one he adopted on p. 341 after he had been told of the problem) can save the mathematics only on pain of making the whole study irrelevant to the physics. I shall explain the dilemma in this note. In a later paper [5], van Fraassen avoids this dilemma by developing an abstract modal interpretation which does not rely on any expression for quantum states.

Type
Discussion
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , June 1974 , pp. 199 - 202
Copyright
Copyright © 1974 by The Philosophy of Science Association

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References

REFERENCES

[1] Everett, H. “‘Relative State’ Formulation of Quantum Mechanics.” Reviews of Modern Physics 29 (1957): 454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[2] Margenau, H. “Measurements and Quantum States.” Philosophy of Science 30 (1963): Part I: 1–16. Part II: 138–157.Google Scholar
[3] Margenau, H. and Park, J. L. “Objectivity in Quantum Mechanics.” in The Delaware Seminar in the Foundations of Physics. Vol. I. Edited by M. Bunge. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1967.Google Scholar
[4] Van Fraassen, B. “A Formal Approach to the Philosophy of Science.” in Paradigms and Paradoxes. Edited by Colodny, R. G. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1965.Google Scholar
[5] Van Fraassen, B. “Semantic Analysis of Quantum Logic.” in Contemporary Research in the Philosophy and Foundations of Quantum Mechanics. Edited by Hooker, C. A. Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1973.Google Scholar
[6] Von Neumann, J. Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics. Translated by R. T. Boyer. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1955.Google Scholar