In a recent paper Conway and Kochen, Found. Phys. 36, 2006, claim to have established that theories of the Ghirardi-Rimini-Weber (RW) type, i.e., of spontaneous wave function collapse, cannot be made relativistic. On the other hand, relativistic GRW-type theories have already been presented, in my recent paper, J. Stat. Phys. 125, 2006, and by Dowker and Henson, J. Stat. Phys. 115, 2004. Here, I elucidate why these are not excluded by the arguments of Conway and Kochen.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
V. Allori, S. Goldstein, R. Tumulka, and N. Zanghì, “On the common structure of Bohmian mechanics and the Ghirardi–Rimini–Weber theory,” preprint quant-ph/0603027 (2006).
Aspect A., Dalibard J., Roger G. (1982) “Experimental test of Bell’s inequalities using time-varying analyzers”. Phys. Rev. Lett. 49: 1804
A. Bassi and G.C. Ghirardi, “The Conway–Kochen argument and relativistic GRW models,” Found. Phys., this issue.
J. S. Bell, “On the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen paradox,” Physics 1, 195 (1964). Reprinted as Chap. 2 of Ref. 7.
J. S. Bell, “Free variables and local causality,” Epist. Lett., Feb. 1977. Reprinted as Chap. 12 of Ref. 7.
J. S. Bell, “Are there quantum jumps?,” in Schrödinger. Centenary Celebration of a Polymath, C. W. Kilmister, ed. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987). Reprinted as Chap. 22 of Ref. 7.
Bell J.S. (1987) Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
J. Conway and S. Kochen, “The free will theorem,” Found. Phys. 36, 1441 (2006). quant-ph/0604079.
F. Dowker and J. Henson, “Spontaneous collapse models on a lattice,” J. Stat. Phys. 115, 1327 (2004). quant-ph/0209051.
D. Dürr, S. Goldstein, R. Tumulka, and N. Zanghì, “John Bell and Bell’s theorem,” in Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edn. D. M. Borchert ed. (Macmillan New York, 2005).
Einstein A., Podolsky B., Rosen N. (1935) “Can quantum-mechanical description of physical reality be considered complete?”. Phys. Rev. 47: 777
Ghirardi G.C., Rimini A., Weber T. (1986) “Unified dynamics for microscopic and macroscopic systems”. Phys. Rev. D 34: 470
Maudlin T. (1994) Quantum Non-Locality and Relativity: Metaphysical Intimations of Modern Physics. Blackwell, Oxford
T. Maudlin, “Non-local correlations in quantum theory: Some ways the trick might be done,” to appear in Einstein, Relativity, and Absolute Simultaneity, Q. Smith and W. L. Craig, eds. (Routledge, London, 2007).
T. Maudlin, “Completeness, supervenience, and ontology,” preprint (2006).
T. Norsen, “Against ‘realism’,” To appear in Found. Phys. (2007); quant-ph/0607057.
R. Tumulka, “A relativistic version of the Ghirardi–Rimini–Weber model,” J. Stat. Phys. 125, 821 (2006); quant-ph/-0406094.
R. Tumulka, “Collapse and relativity,” in A. Bassi, D. Dürr, T. Weber, and N. Zanghì, eds., Quantum Mechanics: Are there Quantum Jumps? and On the Present Status of Quantum Mechanics, AIP Conference Proceedings 844, 340–352. (American Institute of Physics, 2006); quant-ph/0602208.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by Alwyn van der Merwe
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tumulka, R. Comment on “The Free Will Theorem”. Found Phys 37, 186–197 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-006-9098-0
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-006-9098-0
Keywords
- quantum theory without observers
- Conway–Kochen “free will” theorem
- Ghirardi-Rimini-Weber (GRW) theory of spontaneous wave function collapse
- non-locality