Abstract
After a short overview over the questions of time, permanence, and change in the philosophical tradition, the concept of time in physics is discussed. The fact is emphasized that the usual real parameter t is not sufficient, in some cases, to solve conceptual problems of physics. Sometimes it becomes necessary to consider the “full” concept of time with present, past, and future. This can be seen already with the concept of objectivity, which is intimately connected with predictions. It comes out very clearly especially in probability considerations: The concept of probability can be best understood when it is identified with predicted relative frequency. This insight is used to recall a solution of the problem of the “time arrow” in statistical thermodynamics. It is applied mainly to quantum mechanics, where it is shown that there are rather simple solutions, e.g., to the problem of the “collapse of the wave function” and the “EPR” problem; there the “spooky actions at a distance” are unmasked to be no actions at all.
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Notes
- 1.
Parmenides [1]. I am quoting in Greek knowing that many readers will not readily understand the quotation. But I want to emphasize the importance of referring to the original text since every translation is an interpretation. If one really wants to find out what the text says there is no better way than studying the original.
- 2.
Cornford [3], p. 98.
- 3.
Heisenberg [4].
- 4.
- 5.
Hussey [5] p. 44.
- 6.
Hussey [5], p. 41.
- 7.
Augustinus [7] ch. 11.18.23.
- 8.
Laplace [8], p. 2.
- 9.
- 10.
Grünbaum [11].
- 11.
Boltzmann [12]; especially vol. II; § 90 (pp. 256–259).
- 12.
Weizsäcker [13].
- 13.
Gibbs [14].
- 14.
Ehrenfest [15].
- 15.
The “Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics” is, to my mind, still the only acceptable way of talking about quantum mechanics, mainly because of its modesty: it does not try to give more than it has. Cf. Drieschner [16].
- 16.
The acronym refers to the paper Einstein et al. [19].
- 17.
Bohm [20].
- 18.
- 19.
“spukhafte Fernwirkungen”: Born and Einstein [23], letter 84, p. 210.
- 20.
cf. the very interesting book Passon [24].
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Drieschner, M. (2015). Present and Future in Quantum Mechanics. In: von Müller, A., Filk, T. (eds) Re-Thinking Time at the Interface of Physics and Philosophy. On Thinking, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10446-1_10
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