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Unbounded Operators and the Incompleteness of Quantum Mechanics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Adrian Heathcote
Adrian Heathcote*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Australian National University
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Abstract

A proof is presented that a form of incompleteness in Quantum Mechanics follows directly from the use of unbounded operators. It is then shown that the problems that arise for such operators are not connected to the non-commutativity of many pairs of operators in Quantum Mechanics and hence are an additional source of incompleteness to that which allegedly flows from the EPR paradox. Finally, it will be argued that the problem is not amenable to some simple solutions that will be considered.

Type
Discussion
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 57 , Issue 3 , September 1990 , pp. 523 - 534
Copyright
Copyright © 1990 by the Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

†

I wish to express my gratitude to Alan Carey for lengthy correspondence on the subject of this paper; also to the two anonymous referees of this journal whose comments led to a significant improvement of the argument.

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