Causality and chance in relativistic quantum field theories

DOI10.1016/J.SHPSB.2014.03.002MaRDI QIDQ484990zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Richard Healey

Publication date 8 January 2015

Published in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. Part B. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1405.3254

zbMATH Keywords

Bell correlationscausal interventionlocal causalitymicrocausalitypragmatist interpretationrelativistic quantum field theories

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Physics (00A79) Quantum measurement theory, state operations, state preparations (81P15) Quantum coherence, entanglement, quantum correlations (81P40) Axiomatic quantum field theory; operator algebras (81T05) Special relativity (83A05) Applications of selfadjoint operator algebras to physics (46L60)

Abstract: Bell appealed to the theory of relativity in formulating his principle of local causality. But he maintained that quantum field theories do not conform to that principle, even when their field equations are relativistically covariant and their observable algebras satisfy a relativistically motivated microcausality condition. A pragmatist view of quantum theory and an interventionist approach to causation prompt the reevaluation of local causality and microcausality. Local causality cannot be understood as a reasonable requirement on relativistic quantum field theories: it is unmotivated even if applicable to them. But microcausality emerges as a sufficient condition for the consistent application of a relativistic quantum field theory.

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Cited in

(8)

• An intrinsic causality principle in histories-based quantum theory: a proposal
• Relating Bell's local causality to the causal Markov condition
• Reconsidering Relativistic Causality
• Restoring particle phenomenology
• Stochastic Einstein Locality Revisited
• Re-thinking local causality
• PROBABILITY IN RELATIVISTIC QUANTUM MECHANICS AND FOLIATION OF SPACE–TIME
• Relativistic causality in algebraic quantum field theory

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