No label defined (Q4544909)

The title of this book is taken from Heraclit, stating that reality is hidden behind the phenomena we observe. The author explains how this statement holds true thereby introducing into the philosophy of quantum mechanics as it has been developed from the Bohr-Einstein debate up to the adventure of quantum information. Clearly, during the last century there have been developed several incompatible views and interpretations of quantum theory. The author restricts himself to present the widespread accepted orthodox philosophy of quantum mechanics, in which the wave function is taken to be the state of a single system, collapses in consequence of a measurement, and expresses reality only in a restricted sense. ``Nature knows, but I don't know'' (the three components of the spin of a particle). This expression formed by J. S. Bell in an interview in 1988 is cited at the end of the first part of the book. It confirms drastically the statement of Heraclit. The author does not mention that J. S. Bell refers to a special case: The theorem of \textit{S. Kochen} and \textit{E. P. Specker} [J. Math. Mech. 17, 59--87 (1967; Zbl 0156.23302)] in general restricts strongly the reality nature may hide. This question is beyond the scope of the book which is written for a general audience interested in problems of modern philosophy of nature. The book is organized in three parts and three appendices. In the first part (pp. 1--86) the Bohr-Einstein debate is analysed and explained in some detail thereby introducing the reader into the elementary facts of quantum mechanics and special relativity. It ends, describing the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen setting, quantum correlations, Bells inequality, and its experimental invalidation. The main philosophical conclusion drawn here is the violation of Einstein's local realism. The second part (pp. 86--187) is mainly concerned with the measurement problem of quantum mechanics (under the assumption that the wave function represents the state of a single particle). The problems of collapse and objectivation together with the philosophical consequences are discussed. Eventually, the conclusion of the first part, that quantum correlations may lead to violations of locality, is revised: A measurement (performed by Alice)on the particle A only changes instantaneously the potentiality of the distant particle B (of Bob) and this is not excluded by locality. Bob can get the information about the outcome of Alice's measurement only if he is told through a classical channel the direction, on which Alice has measured the spin projection of particle A. ``Does reality consist of levels, some of which are ``higher'' than others in a profound sense? Do human beings have a place, and a role to play, in the cosmological scheme?'' These are the questions the author rises in the third part (pp. 189--241) of the book. ``The collaps, the process of transition from the potential to the actual: involves a selection; There are many possibilities, only one of which is actualized. \dots ``Can we arrive at a concept of nature at an entity that makes choices?'' All chapters are endowed by an abstract and an epigraph of a famous person. The appendices concern the kinematical effects of relativistic space-time, Bells inequalities, and alternative interpretations of quantum theory. The latter contains the Many-Worlds interpretation, J. v. Neumanns regress in the measurement process to a human conscious, and Bohm's mechanics. Operational or probabilistic approaches are not included. This book describes the historical development of the philosophy of quantum mechanics contrasting the classical picture of matter in a nice language which is for everybody well understandable. It can be recommended well as an introduction to problems of modern philosophy of nature.