Is the quantum state real? An extended review of $ψ$-ontology theorems · HackerPapers discussions

Is the quantum state real? An extended review of $ψ$-ontology theorems — mentioned by abdullahkhalids

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 16:59:11 GMT

Physicists have thought long and hard about this. This is very far outside my area, but here is a ten year old review paper that discusses some of these issues [1]. [1] https://arxiv.org/pdf/1409.1570

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Is the quantum state real? An extended review of $ψ$-ontology theorems — mentioned by abdullahkhalids

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 18:56:58 GMT

First, the dominant philosophy of physics/science is that of falsification. Which roughly says that it is impossible to know the "true" laws. All of physics is just models, nothing else, and you can't do better than that. Second, physicists also do not foist this question onto philosophers. There is plenty of work done on this by physicists. Particularly, on the question of whether the wavefunction is simply a calculational tool or more, there are many many papers written by physicists. Two samples [1, 2]. [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/nphys3233 [2] https://arxiv.org/abs/1409.1570

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Is the quantum state real? An extended review of $ψ$-ontology theorems — mentioned by hackandthink

Sun, 16 Oct 2022 17:22:03 GMT

"It doesn't matter whether quantum uncertainty is ontological or epistemological" It matters for a lot of people, they want to know und understand. And maybe somebody comes up with an experiment. "What Bell’s Theorem really shows us is that the foundations of quantum theory is a bona fide field of physics, in which questions are to be resolved by rigor- ous argument and experiment, rather than remaining the subject of open-ended debate. In other words, it is a mistake to crudely divide quantum theory into its practical part and its interpretation, and to think of the latter as metaphysics…

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Is the quantum state real? An extended review of $ψ$-ontology theorems — mentioned by n4r9

Sat, 06 Jul 2019 23:33:18 GMT

Ah, I think I have a clearer understanding of what you're getting at now. I think your first objection is to the idea that nothing physical is actually happening during the collapse of the wave function. On this I completely agree and I apologise for having used very poor phrasing. When I said "merely a reflection" I didn't intend to mean that nothing physical is occurring. I meant that (according to QBism) there is not a real objective quantum system whose real objective quantum state irreversibly collapses into a single real objective pure state. Rather, an agent has a physical interaction…

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.