Abstract
The strange story of the von Neumann impossibility proof is recalled, and the even stranger story of later impossibility proofs, and how the impossible was done by de Broglie and Bohm. Morals are drawn.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
P. A. Schilp, Ed.,Albert Einstein, Philosopher Scientist (Tudor, New York, 1949), p. 666.
P. A. Schilp, Ed.,Albert Einstein, Philosopher Scientist (Tudor, New York, 1949), p. 672.
J. von Neumann,Mathematisch Grundlagen der Quantenmechanik (Springer Verlag, Berlin, 1932); English translation: Princeton University Press, 1955.
M. Born,Natural Philosophy of Cause and Chance (Clarendon, Oxford, 1949).
D. Bohm,Phys. Rev. 85, 165, 180 (1952).
L. de Broglie, inRapport au V'ieme Congres de Physique Solvay (Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1930).
J. M. Jauch and C. Piron,Helvetica Physica Acta 36, 827 (1963);Rev. Mod. Phys. 40, 228 (1966).
J. M. Jauch, private communication (1963).
J. S. Bell, SLAC-PUB-44, Aug. 1964;Rev. Mod. Phys. 38, 447 (1966).
B. Misra,Nuovo Cimento 47, 843 (1967).
S. Kochen and E. P. Specker,J. Math. Mech. 17, 59 (1967).
S. P. Gudder,Rev. Mod. Phys. 40, 229 (1968);J. Math. Phys. 9, 1411 (1968).
R. Jost, inSome Strangeness in the Proportion (Addison-Wesley, Reading, 1980), p. 252.
H. Woolf, ed.,Some Strangeness in the Proportion (Addison-Wesley, Reading, 1980).
W. Pauli, in A. George, ed.,Louis de Broglie, physicien et penseur (Albin Michel, Paris, 1953).
L. Rosenfeld, in A. George, ed.,Louis de Broglie, physicien et penseur (Albin Michel, Paris, 1953), p. 43.
W. Heisenberg, in W. Pauli, ed.,Niels Bohr and the Development of Physics (Pergamon, London, 1955).
L. de Broglie,Found. Phys. 1, 5 (1970).
D. Bohm,Wholeness and the Implicate Order (Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1980).
M. Born, ed.,The Born-Einstein Letters (Macmillan, London, 1971), p. 192, and letters 81, 84, 86, 88, 97, 99, 103, 106, 108, 110, 115, and 116.
E. P. Wigner, inSome Strangeness in the Proportion (Addison-Wesley, Reading, 1980), p. 463.
J. S. Bell, inProc. Symposium on Frontier Problems in High Energy Physics, in honor of Gilberto Bernardini on his 70th birthday (Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, 1976).
M. Mugur-Schächter,Étude du charactère complet de la théorie quantique (Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1964).
F. J. Belinfante,A Survey of Hidden Variable-Theories (Pergamon, London, 1973).
M. Jammer,The Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics (Wiley, New York, 1974).
C. Phillipidas, C. Dewdney, and B. J. Hiley,Nuov. Cim. 52B, 15 (1979).
C. Dewdney and B. J. Hiley,Found. Phys. 12, 27 (1982).
A. M. Gleason,J. Math. Mech. 6, 885 (1957).
A. Fine and P. Teller,Found. Phys. 8, 629 (1978).
J. S. Bell,Inter. J. of Quantum Chem., Quantum Chemistry Symposium No. 14 (Wiley, New York, 1980).
C. J. Isham, R. Penrose, and D. W. Sciama, eds.,Quantum Gravity 2 (Clarendon, Oxford, 1980), p. 611.
P. Forman, “Weimar Culture, Causality, and Quantum Theory 1918–1927,” in R. McCormmach, ed.,Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences 3 (Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1971), pp. 1–115.
T. J. Pinch, “What Does a Proof Do if it Does Not Prove?, A Study of the Social Conditions and Metaphysical Divisions Leading to David Bohm and John von Neumann Failing to Communicate in Quantum Physics,” in E. Mendelsohn, P. Weingart, and R. Whitly, eds.,The Social Production of Scientific Knowledge (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1977), pp. 171–215.
J. Clauser and A. Shimony,Rep. Prog. Phys. 41, 1881 (1978).
F. M. Pipkin,Advances in Atomic and Molecular Physics 14 (Academic Press, New York, 1979), p. 281.
F. Selleri and G. Tarozzi,Riv. Nuov. Cim. 4 (2) (1981).
B. d'Espagnat,A la Recherche du Reel (Gauthier Villars, Paris, 1979).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bell, J.S. On the impossible pilot wave. Found Phys 12, 989–999 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01889272
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01889272