Abstract
It is pointed out that some already known inequalities (Bell’s inequalities) and some new ones presented here can be used to test experimentally the validity of a general conception of the foundations of microphysics. This conception mainly consists in considering sets of propositions (having the structure of lattices but possibly of non-Boolean ones) and in assuming that when a proposition is true on a system S this constitutes an intrinsic property of S. It is shown that the results of some recent experiments corroborating the quantum mechanical predictions can be used to invalidate directly the general conception just described. This is done without reference to the general principles of quantum mechanics. More generally, our derivation does not depend for its validity on assuming the truth of any particular physical theory abstracted by induction from experimental knowledge.
This text has already been published in Physical Review D 11 (1975), 1424, under the title ‘Use of Inequalities for the Experimental Test of a General Conception of the Foundation of Microphysics’. We thank the editors of this journal for kindly permitting its reproduction in this series.
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D’espagnat, B. (1977). On Propositions and Physical System. In: Lopes, J.L., Paty, M. (eds) Quantum Mechanics, A Half Century Later. Episteme, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-1196-9_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-1196-9_8
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