On the Incompatibility of Special Relativity and Quantum Mechanics
Abstract
Some of the strategies which have been put forward in order to deal with the inconsistency between quantum mechanics and special relativity are examined. The EPR correlations are discussed as a simple example of quantum mechanical macroscopic effects with spacelike separation from their causes. It is shown that they can be used to convey information, whose reliability can be estimated by means of Bayes' theorem. Some of the current reasons advanced to deny that quantum mechanics contradicts special relativity are refuted, and an historical perspective is provided on the issue.
Keywords
Full Text:
DOWNLOAD PDFReferences
Bohr N.: Collected Works, Volume 6 - Foundations of Quantum Physics I (1926- 1932), ed. by J. Kalckar, Amsterdam/New York/Oxford/Tokyo, North-Holland, 1985.
Bell J.S.: Speakable and unspeakable in quantum mechanics, Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Ha Y.K. 2012: “Severe Challenges in Gravity Theoriesâ€, International Journal of Modern Physics: Conference Series, 7, 219-26.
Popper K. R.: Quantum Theory and the Schism in Physics / From the Postscript to the Logic of Scientific Discovery, ed. by W.W. Bartley, III, London/New York, Routledge (1982).
von Neumann J.: Mathematische Grundlagen der Quantenmachanik, Berlin, Julius Springer (1932).
von Neumann J.: Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Princeton University Press (1955).
Einstein A.: “Physics and Realityâ€, Journal of the Franklin Institute, 221, 349-82 (1936), reprinted in [8], 318-56.
Einstein A.: Ideas and Opinions, New York, The Modern Library (1954, 1994).
Einstein A.: “Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körperâ€, Annalen der Physik, 17, 891-921 (1905).
Einstein A., Podolsky B., Rosen N.: “Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical
Reality be Considered Complete?â€, Physical Review, 47, 777-80 (1935).
Pais A.: “Subtle is the Lord...â€. The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein, Oxford U. P. (1982)
Salart D., Baas A., Branciard C., Gisin N., Zbinden H.: “Testing the speed of `spooky action at a distance'â€, Nature, 454, 861-4 (2008).
Hensen B., Bernien H., Dréau A. E., Reiserer A. et al.: “Loophole-free Bell inequality violation using electron spins separated by 1.3 kilometersâ€, Nature, 526, 682-6 (2015)
Wiseman H.: “Bell's theorem still reverberatesâ€, Nature, 510, 467-9 (2014).
Wiseman H.: “Death by experiment for local realismâ€, Nature, 526, 649-50 (2015)
Aspect A.: “Closing the Door on Einstein and Bohr's Quantum Debateâ€, Physics.aps.org, Physics, 8, 123 (2015).
Weinberg S.: “The Trouble with Quantum Mechanicsâ€, The New York Review of Books, January 19, 2017.
Weinberg S., Mermin N.D., Nauenberg et al.: “Steven Weinberg and the Puzzle of Quantum Mechanicsâ€, The New York Review of Books, April 6, 2017
Mamone-Capria M.: “On the Conventionality of Simultaneity in Special Relativityâ€, Found. Phys., 31, 775-818 (2001).
Lazarovici D.: “A relativistic retrocausal model violating Bell's inequalityâ€, Proc. R. Soc. A, 471: 20140454 (2014).
Barretto Bastos Filho J.: “The Quantum debate: From Einstein to Bell and Beyondâ€, in Mamone Capria M. (ed.): Physics Before and After Einstein, Amsterdam, Ios (2005), 205-32.
Heisenberg W.: The Physical Principles of Quantum Theory, transl. from German, Dover (1930).
Bacciagaluppi G., Valentini A.: “Quantum Theory at the Crossroads – Reconsidering the 1927 Solvay Conference'', arXiv:quant-ph/0609184v2 (2009).
Costa de Beauregard O.: Time, the Physical Magnitude, Dordrecht, Reidel (1987).
Cushing J. T.: Quantum Mechanics – Historical Contingency and the Copenhagen Hegemony, Chicago/London, University of Chicago Press (1994).
Popper K. R.: The Logic of Scientific Discovery, London, Routledge (1980, 2002).
Hoffmann B., Dukas H.: Albert Einstein Creator and Rebel, New York etc., New American Library (1972).
Bell J.S.: “Bertlmann's socks and the nature of reality'', Journal de Physique, 42, C2 41-61 (reprinted in [8], 139-58).
Schilpp P. A. (ed.): Albert Einstein Philosopher-Scientist, La Salle (Ill.), Open Court (1949, 1970).
Gardner M.: Science: good, bad and bogus, Buffalo, Prometheus Books (1981, 1989).
Born M.: The Born-Einstein Letters 1916-1955, Macmillan (1971).
Bohr N.: “Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality be Considered Complete?â€, Physical Review, 48, 696-702 (1935).
Bohr N.: “On the notions of causality and complementarityâ€, Dialectica, 2, 312-9 (1948); reprinted in Science, 111, 51-4 (1950).
Bohr N.: “Discussion with Einstein on epistemological problems in atomic physicsâ€, in [29], 201-41 (1949).
Jauch J.M.: Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Reading (Mass.) etc., Addison-Wesley (1968).
Dirac P. A. M.: “Development of the Physicist's Conception of Natureâ€, in Mehra J. (ed.), The Physicist's Conception of Nature, Dordrecht/Boston, Reidel (1973), 1-14.
d'Espagnat B.: Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Reading (Mass.), Perseus (1976, 1989, 1999).
Stapp H.P.: Mind, Matter, and Quantum Mechanics, Springer Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York etc. (1993)
Bohm D.: Quantum Theory [1951], Dover, 1989.
Sudbery A.: Quantum mechanics and the particles of nature – An outline for mathematicians, Cambridge University Press (1988).
Einstein A.: “Quanten-Mechanik und Wirklichkeitâ€, Dialectica, 2, 320-4 (1948) (English translation: “Quantum Mechanics and Realityâ€, [20], 166-70).
Bell J.S.: “On the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox'', Physics, 1, pp. 195-200 (1964) (reprinted in [2], 14-21).
Bell J.S.: “Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen experimentsâ€, Proceedings of the symposium on Frontier Problems in High-Energy Physics, Pisa (1976), 33-45 (reprinted in [2], 81-92).
Dirac P.A.M.: The principles of quantum mechanics, Oxford, Clarendon Press, revised 4th ed. (1967).
Bell J.S.: “Free variables and local causalityâ€, Epistemological Letters (1977) (reprinted in [2], 100-4).
Bell J.S.: “Against `measurement'â€, Physics World, August, 33-40 (1990)
Ballentine L.E.: “Failure of some theories of state reduction'', Physical Review A, 43, 9-11 (1991).
Davies P.C.W., Brown J.R. (eds): The Ghost in the Atom, Cambridge University Press (1986).
Ghirardi G. C., Rimini A. Weber T.: “A General Argument against Superluminal Transmission through the Quantum Mechanical Measurement Processâ€, Lettere al Nuovo Cimento, 27, 293-8 (1980)
Genovese M.: “Research on Hidden Variable Theories: a review of recent progressesâ€, (2007) arXiv:quant-ph/0701071
Griffiths R.B.: “Comment on ‘Loophole-free Bell Inequality’â€, arXiv:1512.01443v1 (2015)
Suarez A., Scarani V.: “Does entanglement depend on the timing of the impacts at the beam-splitters?â€, Physics Letters A, 232, 9-14 (1997).
Aspect A.: “Bell's inequality test: more ideal than everâ€, Nature, 398, 189-90 (1999).
Poincaré H.: “La théorie de Lorentz et le principe de réactionâ€, Archives Néerlandaises des Sciences exactes et naturelles, ser. II, 5, 252-78 (1900).
Janis A.: “Conventionality of Simultaneityâ€, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, E.N. Zalta (ed.), https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2014/entries/spacetime-convensimul/
Mamone-Capria M.: “On the Fundamental Theorem of the Theory of Relativity'', Found. Phys., 46, 1680-1712 (2016); arXiv:1603.07328v3 [math-ph]
Reichenbach H.: The Philosophy of Space and Time, first German edition, 1928; transl.: New York, Dover (1957).
Mamone-Capria M.: “Simultaneity as an Invariant Equivalence relationâ€, Found. Phys., 42, 1365-83 (2012), arXiv:1202.6578v3 [math-ph].
Lorentz H. A.: Problems of Modern Physics, ed. by H. Bateman, London, etc., Ginn (1927).
Miller A. I.: Albert Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity [1981], New York, Springer-Verlag (1998).
Bohm D., Hiley B.: The Undivided Universe, London, Routledge (1993).
Kofler J., Ursin R., Brukner C., Zeilinger A.: “Comment on: Testing the speed of `spooky action at a distance'†(2008), arXiv:0810.4452v1 [quant-ph].
Salart D., Baas A., Branciard C., Gisin N., Zbinden H.: “Reply to the Comment on: Testing the speed of ‘spooky action at a distance’†(2008), arXiv:0810.4607v1 [quant-ph]
Ballentine L.E., Jarrett J.P.: “Bell's theorem: Does quantum mechanics contradict relativity?â€, Am. J. Phys., 33, 696-701 (1987).
Ballentine L.E.: Quantum Mechanics: A Modern Development, Singapore, World Scientific (1998).
Fuchs C. A., Mermin N. D., Schack R.: “An Introduction to QBism with and Application to the Locality of Quantum Mechanicsâ€, November 20, 2013, arXiv:1311.5253v1
Selleri F.: “Superluminal Signals and the Resolution of the Causal Paradoxâ€, Found. Phys., 36, 443-63 (2006).
[68] Poincaré H.: “L'état actuel et l'avenire de la physique mathématiqueâ€, Bulletin des Sciences Mathématiques, 2e série, 28, 302-24 (1904).
Poincaré H.: La Valeur de la Science, Paris, Flammarion (1905, 1970).
Poincaré H.: “Sur la dynamique de l'électronâ€, C. R. Acad. Sci., 140, 1504-8 (1905).
Poincaré H.: “Sur la dynamique de l'électron", Rendiconti del Circolo Matematico di Palermo, 21, 129-75 (1906).
Mamone-Capria M., Manini M.-G.: “On the relativistic unification of electricity and magnetismâ€, arXiv:1111.7126v3 [physics.hist-ph] (2013)
Michelson A. A., Lorentz H. A., Miller D. C., Kennedy R. J., Hedrick E. R., Epstein P. S., Strömberg G., Bateman H.: “Conference on the Michelson-Morley Experimentâ€, The Astrophysical Journal, 68, 341-402 (1928).
Michelson A.A.: “The relative motion of the Earth and the Luminiferous etherâ€, Am. J. Sci., 3rd ser., 31, 120-9 (1881).
Lorentz H. A.: “De l'influence du mouvement de la terre sur les phénomènes lumineuxâ€, Archives néerlandaises des Sciences exactes et naturelles, 21, 103-76 (1886).
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
ISSN: 2394-3688
© Science Front Publishers