Elegance and enigma: the quantum interviews

315 Pages·2011·7.53 MB·English

by  Schlosshauer, Maximilian

THE FRONTIERS COLLECTION
THE FRONTIERS COLLECTION
Series Editors:
A.C. Elitzur L. Mersini-Houghton M. Schlosshauer M.P. Silverman R. Vaas H.D. Zeh
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fundamentalandinterdisciplinaryapproachtomodernscience.Furthermore,itisintendedto
encourageactivescientistsinallareastoponderoverimportantandperhapscontroversial
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Maximilian Schlosshauer
Ed itor
ELEGANCE
AND ENIGMA
T he Q uantum Interview s
Editor
Maximilian Schlosshauer
InstituteforQuantumOpticsand QuantumInformation
Boltzmanngasse3
A-1090Wien
Austria
[email protected]

SeriesEditors:
AvshalomC.Elitzur
Bar-IlanUniversity,UnitofInterdisciplinaryStudies,52900Ramat-Gan,Israel
email:[email protected]
LauraMersini-Houghton
Dept.Physics,UniversityofNorthCarolina,ChapelHill,NC27599-3255,USA
email:[email protected]
MaximilianSchlosshauer
InstituteforQuantumOpticsandQuantumInformation, Boltzmanngasse3,
A-1090Wien,Austria
email:[email protected]
MarkP.Silverman
TrinityCollege,Dept.Physics,HartfordCT06106,USA
email:[email protected]
Ru¨digerVaas
UniversityofGiessen,CenterforPhilosophyandFoundationsofScience,35394Giessen,
Germany
email:[email protected]
H. DieterZeh
GaibergerStraße38,69151Waldhilsbach,Germany
email:[email protected]
ISSN1612-3018
ISBN978-3-642-20879-9 e-ISBN978-3-642-20880-5
DOI10.1007/978-3-642-20880-5
SpringerHeidelbergDordrechtLondonNewYork
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2011931972
# Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2011
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ForKariandEli
—M.S.

(cid:315)etruthabouttheworld,hesaid,isthatanythingispossible.
Hadyou not seen it all frombirth and therebybled it of its
strangenessitwouldappeartoyouforwhatitis,ahattrickin
amedicineshow,afevereddream,atrancebepopulatewith
chimerashavingneitheranaloguenorprecedent,anitinerant
carnival,amigratorytentshowwhoseultimatedestinationaf-
termanyapitchinmanyamuddled(cid:320)eldisunspeakableand
calamitousbeyondreckoning.
(cid:315)euniverseisnonarrowthingandtheorderwithinitisnot
constrained by any latitude in its conception to repeat what
existsinonepartinanyotherpart.Eveninthisworldmore
thingsexistwithoutourknowledgethanwithitandtheorder
in creation which you see is that which you have put there,
like a string in a maze, so that you shall not lose your way.
Forexistencehasitsownorderandthatnoman’smindcan
compass,thatminditselfbeingbutafactamongothers.
—C(cid:347)(cid:350)(cid:345)(cid:333)(cid:335) M(cid:335)C(cid:333)(cid:350)(cid:352)(cid:340)(cid:357),BloodMeridian

PREFACE
W(cid:340)(cid:357) (cid:333)(cid:348)(cid:348)(cid:350)(cid:347)(cid:333)(cid:335)(cid:340) the foundations of quantum mechanics, this vast and fascinat-
ingsubjectarea,throughinterviews?Whynotapropertextbookinstead?Afterall,
manyoftheclassictitles,suchasMaxJammer’s(cid:315)ePhilosophyofQuantumMechanics
andBernardd’Espagnat’sConceptualFoundationsofQuantumMechanics,haveaged
visibly.Acomplete,up-to-dateaccountofthe(cid:320)eld—onethatwouldalsopayappro-
priateattentiontorecentdevelopmentslikequantuminformation,experiments,and
reconstructionsofquantumtheory—isarguablylacking.I’mwellawareofthissitu-
ation.Soitisnotasiftheideaofwritingatextbookhadn’teveroccurredtome,oras
ifIsimplyshiedawayfromtheeffort,howeverenormousIsuspecttheinvestment
wouldhavetobe.
Opting for the interview format instead is, as I see it, neither a cheap cop-out
nor merely a temporary substitute. Rather, it is a uniquely effective way of laying
outthe(cid:320)eldofquantumfoundationsasitstandstoday.Itwon’tbenewstoyouthat
this(cid:320)eldisnocut-and-driedsolid-statephysics:justattendanyconferencedevoted
to quantum foundations, and you’ll know that the debates at such events have the
zeal of a political convention. How could a single author do the (cid:320)eld full justice
withoutcoloringherstory?Idothinkitcouldbedone,butyou’dhavetobeacard-
carryingmemberofthePartyofUtterlyNeutralQuantumScholars(“Punqs”)not
to be accused of supporting, however subtly, the line of a particular foundational
programormindset.
(cid:315)e interview approach has diversity built in from the outset. It allows you to
perceive the subject through the eyes of the (cid:320)eld’s leading practitioners. You won’t
needtogothroughstacksofresearchpaperstogetarepresentativecross-sectionof
views,ortrustanyoneauthortofaithfullyreproducealltheshadesofgray.Lastbut
notleast,interviewslendthemselvestoaninformalandpersonalstyle.Afterall,we
readbooksforenjoyment.(cid:315)eyshouldn’tbeaslog.
Ofcourse,ifnothandledjudiciously,theinterviewapproachcanalsogoastray.One
obvious make-or-break issue is the choice of questions. (cid:315)ere’s always a danger of
bias,ofputtingspinonthequestions.HerearesomeofthegoalsIsetout.
ix