Abstract
Observables for isolated systems in quantum mechanics may be assigned sharp, or definite values according to the eigenstate-eigenvalue link — as well as the rules of the modal interpretation. Yet such sharpness of values seems not in all cases to be independent of the choice of (electromagnetic) gauge and/or spatio-temporal coordinate system. Some doubt is thus in order as to the objectivity of sharp values of observables in certain cases.
We wish to thank Giovanni Boniolo, Gordon Fleming, Roman Jackiw, David Malament, Antony Valentini, Pieter Vermaas, and particularly Dennis Dieks, Fred Muller, Amanda Peet, Simon Saunders and Erik Sjöqvist for helpful discussions. GB wishes to thank especially Enrico Bellone and Giovanni Boniolo for the invitation to deliver this paper at the Facoltà di Scienze, Università di Padova, and the British Academy for a generous Research Fellowship. Finally, we are most grateful to the editors for the invitation to contribute to this volume.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Y. Aharonov and J. L Safko, Measurement of noncanonical variables, Annals of Physics, 91 (1975), pp. 279–294.
L. Ballentine, Quantum Mechanics, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 1990.
H. Brown and P. Holland, The Galilean covariance of quantum mechanics in the case of external fields, in progress.
R. K. Clifton, Independently motivating the Kochen-Dieks modal interpretation of quantum mechanics, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 46 (1995), pp. 33–58.
D. Dieks, The formalism of quantum theory: an objective description of reality?, Annalen der Physik, 7 (1988), pp. 174–190.
D. Dieks, Physical motivation of the modal interpretation of quantum mechanics, Physics Letters A, 197 (1995), pp. 367–371.
A. Einstein, B. Podolsky and N. Rosen, Can quantum-mechanical description of physical reality be considered complete?, Physical Review, 47 (1935), pp. 777–780.
A. Fine, Probability and the interpretation of quantum mechanics, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 24 (1973), pp. 1–37.
A. Fine, The Shaky Game: Einstein, Realism and the Quantum Theory, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1986.
L. Fonda and G. Ghirardi, Symmetry Principles in Quantum Physics, Marcel Dekker, New York, 1970.
R. Healey, The Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics: An Interactive Interpretation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989.
J. M. Jauch and C. Piron, On the structure of quantal proposition systems, Helvetica Physica Acta, 42 (1969), pp. 842–848.
S. Kochen, A new interpretation of quantum mechanics, in P. Lahti and P. Mittelstaedt (eds), Symposium on the Foundations of Modem Physics 1985: 50 Years of the Einstein-Podolski-Rosen Gedankenexperiment, World Scientific, Singapore, 1985, pp. 151–169.
A. Peres, Quantum Theory: Concepts and Methods, Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 1993.
E. Sjöqvist, H. R. Brown and H. Carlsen, Galilean noninvariance of geometric phase, Physics Letters A, 229 (1997), pp. 273–278.
S. Takagi, Equivalence of a harmonic oscillator to a free particle, Progress of Theoretical Physics, 84 (1990), pp. 1019–1024.
S. Takagi, Quantum dynamics and non-inertial frames of reference, I, II and III, Progress of Theoretical Physics, 85 (1991), pp. 463–479
S. Takagi, Quantum dynamics and non-inertial frames of reference, I, II and III, Progress of Theoretical Physics, 85 (1991), pp. 723–742
S. Takagi, Quantum dynamics and non-inertial frames of reference, I, II and III, Progress of Theoretical Physics, 86 (1991), pp. 783–798.
A. Valentini, On Galilean and Lorentz invariance in pilot-wave dynamics, Physics Letters, A 228 (1997), pp. 215–222.
P. E. Vermaas and D. Dieks, The modal interpretation of quantum mechanics and its generalization to density operators, Foundations of Physics, 25 (1995), pp. 145–158.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Brown, H., Suárez, M., Bacciagaluppi, G. (1998). Are ‘Sharp Values’ of Observables Always Objective Elements of Reality?. In: Dieks, D., Vermaas, P.E. (eds) The Modal Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. The Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science, vol 60. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5084-2_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5084-2_13
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6135-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-5084-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive