Abstract
Models of the EPR-Bohm experiment usually consider just two times, an initial time, and the time of measurement. Within such analyses, it has been argued that ‘locality’ is equivalent to determinism, given the strict correlations of quantum mechanics. However, an analysis based on such models is only a preliminary to an analysis based on a complete dynamical model. The latter analysis is carried out, and it is shown that, given certain definitions of ‘locality’ and ‘determinism’ for completely dynamical models, locality implies, but is not implied by, determinism. Further, it is suggested that a local deterministic model has not been ruled out by Bell's theorem. It is suggested that such a model could naturally deny the independence of initial complete states from the settings of the apparatuses (a crucial assumption in the derivation of Bell's inequality).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aspect, A., P. Grangier, and G. Roger: 1981, ‘Experimental Tests of Realistic Local Theories via Bell's Theorem’, Physical Review Letters 47, 725–9.
Aspect, A., P. Grangier, and G. Roger: 1982a, ‘Experimental Realization of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-Bohm Gedankenexperiment: A New Violation of Bell's Inequalities’, Physical Review Letters 48, 91–4.
Aspect, A., J. Dalibard, and G. Roger: 1982b, ‘Experimental Tests of Bell's Inequalities Using Time-Varying Analyzers’, Physical Review Letters 49, 1804–7.
Bell, J.: 1964, ‘On the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox’, Physics 1, 195–200.
Bell, J.: 1987a, ‘Introduction to the Hidden-Variable Question’, in Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 29–39.
Bell, J.: 1987b, ‘Quantum Mechanics for Cosmologists’, in Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 117–38.
Bohm, D.: 1952, ‘A Suggested Interpretation of the Quantum Theory in Terms of “Hidden” Variables, I and II’, Physical Review 85, 166–93.
Born, M.: 1971, The Born-Einstein Letters, Walker, New York, trans. I. Born.
Butterfield, J.: 1989, ‘A Spacetime Approach to the Bell Inequality’, in J. Cushing and E. McMullin (eds.), Philosophical Consequences of Quantum Theory, University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, IN, pp. 114–151.
Butterfield, J.: 1992, ‘Bell's Theorem: What it Takes’, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 43, 41–83.
Butterfield, J.: 1995, ‘Vacuum Correlations and Outcome Dependence in Algebraic Quantum Field Theory’, Annals of the New York Acadamy of Sciences, to be published.
Clauser, J. and M. Horne: 1974, ‘Experimental Consequences of Objective Local Theories’, Physical Review D 10, 526–35.
Clauser, J. and A. Shimony: 1978, ‘Bell's Theorem: Experimental Tests and Implications’, Reports on Progress in Physics 41, 1881–927.
Clifton, R., M. Redhead, and J. Butterfield: 1991, ‘Generalization of the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger Algebraic Proof of Nonlocality’, Foundations of Physics 21, 149–84.
Cushing, J.: 1994, ‘Locality/Separability: Is This Necessarily a Useful Distinction?’, in D. Hull, M. Forbes, and R. Burian (eds.), PSA 1994, vol. I, Philosophy of Science Association, East Lansing, MI, pp. 107–116.
Cushing, J.: 1994b, Quantum Mechanics: Historical Contingency and the Copenhagen Hegemony, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Dickson, M.: 1995, ‘Probability and Non-locality: Determinism Versus Indeterminism in Quantum Mechanics’, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Notre Dame.
Dickson, M.: (1996) ‘Nonlocality in the Bohm Theory: Troubling or Trifling?’, to be published in J. Cushing, A. Fine, and S. Goldstein (eds.), Bohmian Mechanics and Quantum Theory: An Appraisal, Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht.
Fine, A.: 1982a, ‘Hidden Variables, Joint Probability, and the Bell Inequalities’, Physical Review Letters 48, 291–5.
Fine, A.: 1982b, ‘Joint Distributions, Quantum Correlations, and Commuting Observables’, Journal of Mathematical Physics 23, 1306–10.
Fine, A.: 1982c, ‘Some Local Models for Correlation Experiments’, Synthese 50, 279–94.
Greenberger, D. M., M. A. Horne, and A. Zeilinger: 1989, ‘Going Beyond Bell's Theorem’, in M. Kafatos (ed.), Bell's Theorem, Quantum Theory, and Conceptions of the Universe. Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht, pp. 69–72.
Greenberger, D. M., M. A. Horne, A. Shimony, and A. Zeilinger: 1990, ‘Bell's Theorem Without Inequalities’, American Journal of Physics 58, 1131–43.
Howard, D.: 1985, ‘Einstein on Locality and Separability’, Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science 16, 171–201.
Howard, D.: 1989, ‘Holism, Separability, and the Metaphysical Implications of the Bell Experiments’, in J. Cushing and E. McMullin (eds.), Philosophical Consequences of Quantum Theory, University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, IN, pp. 224–253.
Jarrett, J.: 1984, ‘On the Physical Significance of the Locality Conditions in the Bell Arguments’, Noûs 18, 569–89.
Jarrett, J.: 1986, ‘Does Bell's Theorem Apply to Theories That Admit Time-Dependent States?’, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 480, 428–37.
Marshall, T., E. Santos, and F. Selleri: 1983, ‘Local Realism Has Not Been Refuted by Atomic Cascade Experiments’, Physics Letters A 98, 5–9.
Maudlin, T.: 1994, Quantum Non-Locality and Relativity, Blackwell, Oxford.
Pagonis, C., M. L. G. Redhead, and R. K. Clifton: 1991, ‘Breakdown of Quantum Nonlocality in the Classical Limit’, Physics Letters A 155, 441–4.
Peres, A.: 1978, ‘Unperformed Experiments Have No Results’, American Journal of Physics 46, 745–7.
Shimony, A.: 1986, ‘Events and Processes in the Quantum World’, in R. Penrose and C. Isham (eds.), Quantum Concepts in Space and Time, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Suppes, P. and M. Zanotti: 1976, ‘On the Determinism of Hidden Variable Theories with Strict Correlation and Conditional Statistical Independence of Observables’, in P. Suppes (ed.), Logic and Probability in Quantum Mechanics, D. Reidel, Dordrecht, pp. 445–455.
Svetlichny, G., M. Redhead, H. Brown and J. Butterfield: 1988, ‘Do the Bell Inequalities Require the Existence of Joint Probability Distributions?’, Philosophy of Science 55, 387–401.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dickson, W.M. Determinism and locality in quantum systems. Synthese 107, 55–82 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00413902
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00413902