Overview

What would it mean to apply quantum theory, without restriction and without involving any notion of measurement and state reduction, to the whole universe? What would realism about the quantum state then imply? This book brings together an illustrious team of philosophers and physicists to debate these questions. The contributors broadly agree on the need, or aspiration, for a realist theory that unites micro- and macro-worlds. But they disagree on what this implies. Some argue that if unitary quantum evolution has unrestricted application, and if the quantum state is taken to be something physically real, then this universe emerges from the quantum state as one of countless others, constantly branching in time, all of which are real. The result, they argue, is many worlds quantum theory, also known as the Everett interpretation of quantum mechanics. No other realist interpretation of unitary quantum theory has ever been found. Others argue in reply that this picture of many worlds is in no sense inherent to quantum theory, or fails to make physical sense, or is scientifically inadequate. The stuff of these worlds, what they are made of, is never adequately explained, nor are the worlds precisely defined; ordinary ideas about time and identity over time are compromised; no satisfactory role or substitute for probability can be found in many worlds theories; they can't explain experimental data; anyway, there are attractive realist alternatives to many worlds. Twenty original essays, accompanied by commentaries and discussions, examine these claims and counterclaims in depth. They consider questions of ontology - the existence of worlds; probability - whether and how probability can be related to the branching structure of the quantum state; alternatives to many worlds - whether there are one-world realist interpretations of quantum theory that leave quantum dynamics unchanged; and open questions even given many worlds, including the multiverse concept as it has arisen elsewhere in modern cosmology. A comprehensive introduction lays out the main arguments of the book, which provides a state-of-the-art guide to many worlds quantum theory and its problems.

Full Product Details

Author:   Simon Saunders (University of Oxford) ,  Jonathan Barrett (University of Bristol) ,  Adrian Kent (University of Cambridge) ,  David Wallace (University of Oxford)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 16.10cm , Height: 4.20cm , Length: 23.80cm
Weight:   1.100kg
ISBN:  

9780199560561

ISBN 10:   0199560560
Pages:   636
Publication Date:   24 June 2010
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

Simon Saunders: Many Worlds: an Introduction 1. Why Many Worlds? 1: David Wallace: Decoherence and Ontology 2: Jim Hartle: Quasiclassical Realms 3: Jonathan Halliwell: Macroscopic Superpositions, Decoherent Histories, and the Emergence of Hydrodynamical Behaviour 2. Problems with Ontology 4: Tim Maudlin: Can the world be only wavefunction? 5: John Hawthorne: A metaphysician looks at the Everett interpretation James Ladyman: Commentary. Reply to Hawthorne: Physics Before Metaphysics Transcript 1: ontology 3. Probability in the Everett Interpretation 6: Simon Saunders: Chance in the Everett interpretation 7: David Papineau: A Scandal of Probability Theory 8: David Wallace: How to prove the Born rule 9: Hilary Greaves and Wayne Myrvold: Everett and Evidence 4. Critical Replies 10: Adrian Kent: One World versus Many: the Inadequacy of Everettian Accounts of Evolution, Probability, and Scientific Confirmation 11: David Albert: Probability in the Everett picture 12: Huw Price: Decisions, Decisions, Decisions: Can Savage Salvage Everettian Probability? Transcript 2: Probability 5. Alternatives to Many Worlds 13: Wojciech Zurek: Decoherence, Einselection, Envariance, and Quantum Darwinism: From Relative States to the Existential Interpretation 14: Jeffrey Bub and Itamar Pitowsky: Two dogmas about quantum mechanics Christopher Timpson: Commentary: Rabid Dogma? Comments on Bub and Pitowsky 15: Rudiger Schack: The Principal Principle and Probability in the Many-Worlds interpretation 16: Antony Valentini: Pilot-wave theory: many worlds in denial? Harvey Brown: Commentary: Reply to Valentini 6. Not Only Many Worlds 17: Peter Byrne: Everett and Wheeler, the Untold Story 18: David Deutsch: Apart from universes 19: Max Tegmark: Many Worlds in Context 20: Lev Vaidman: Time Symmetry and the Many-Worlds Interpretation Transcript 3: Not (only) many worlds Bibliography

Reviews

This book provides arguably the most vivid and comprehensive treatment of both state-of-the art developments within and criticism of the Everett interpretation. Guido Bacciagaluppi, Metascience written with great clarity by some of the best minds in contemporary foundations of physics... a fine read, summarizing nicely the state of the art in one of the most radical no-collapse interpretations of quantum theory. Amit Hagar, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

written with great clarity by some of the best minds in contemporary foundations of physice... a fine read, summarizing nicely the state of the art in one of the most radical no-collapse interpretations of quantum theory. Amit Hagar, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

This book provides arguably the most vivid and comprehensive treatment of both state-of-the art developments within and criticism of the Everett interpretation. * Guido Bacciagaluppi, Metascience * written with great clarity by some of the best minds in contemporary foundations of physics... a fine read, summarizing nicely the state of the art in one of the most radical no-collapse interpretations of quantum theory. * Amit Hagar, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *

Author Information

Simon Saunders is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford. Jonathan Barrett is a Research Fellow in the Physics department at the University of Bristol Adrian Kent is a Reader in Quantum Physics at the University of Cambridge David Wallace is a lecturer in Philosophy of Physics at the University of Oxford

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