Craig Callender
Department of Philosophy, UCSD
The so-called 'measurement problem' has plagued quantum mechanics since
the theory took its modern form in 1925. The last twenty years, however,
have witnessed the rise of several (more or less) conceptually clear and
empirically adequate solutions to this problem. Each of these solutions
describes a strikingly different underlying quantum world. In his talk,
Prof. Callender will explain the measurement problem in non-technical
terms and describe some of the astonishing variety of possible worlds
that result from different methods of solving this problem.
This variety of worlds shows that one can say very little about the
general structure of the quantum world that is independent of one's
solution to the measurement problem. Even worse, there seems little
prospect of experimentally determining which of these various possible
worlds we live in. Will we always be in this predicament? Have we always
been in this situation? What does this under-determination of theory by
evidence mean for scientific realism? The talk will address these
questions and others.
For more information
about Craig Callender, visit his web
site.
Additional resources from the talk: slides, and video.
To view the movie you may need to download Quicktime.
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