Minkowski Space-Time and Quantum Mechanics

Abstract

Minkowski’s conception of spacetime has had a large impact on our interpretation of quantum theory. Time in quantum mechanics plays a a role in the interpretation distinct from space, in contrast with the apparent unity of space and time encapsulate in the notion of spacetime. It clearly ruled out any quantum mechanics and showed that quantum field theory was the only possible consistent theory. And within quantum field theory, it also rules out the realistic interpretation of the wave function. Fortunately, it is not incompatible with all approaches to quantum theory. Whether or not it is compatible with quantum theory once the metric, the structure which defines the causal structure of the primitive notion of the manifold, is still an open question.