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On the Importance of Interpretation in Quantum Physics: A Reply to Elise Crull

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Abstract

Elise Crull (Found Phys. doi:10.1007/s10701-014-9847-4, 2014) claims that by invoking decoherence it is possible (i) to obviate many “fine grained” issues often conflated under the common designation of measurement problem, and (ii) to make substantial progresses in the fields of quantum gravity and quantum cosmology, without any early incorporation of a particular interpretation in the quantum formalism. We point out that Crull is mistaken about decoherence and tacitly assumes some kind of interpretation of the quantum formalism.

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Notes

  1. Of course, such a specification should not necessarily amount to bringing “classical terms” into the equations, as suggested most notably by Bell [1], but it could include the commitment to irreducibly “non-classical” features of reality: Everett’s interpretation is a remarkable example, in this sense.

  2. This particular assumption is not as uncontroversial as it might seem. A quantum-Bayesianist, for example, would tend to deny it.

  3. This is why we agree with the author that it is not the case that decoherence can be understood only in an Everettian framework.

References

  1. Bell, J.: The theory of local beables. Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum mechanics, Chap. 7, pp. 52–62. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1987)

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  2. Crull, E.: Less interpretation and more decoherence in quantum gravity and inflationary cosmology. Found. Phys. (2014). doi:10.1007/s10701-014-9847-4

  3. Dürr, D., Goldstein, S., Zanghì, N.: Quantum Physics Without Quantum Philosophy. Springer, Berlin (2013)

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Acknowledgments

Antonio Vassallo acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation, Grant no. \(105212\_149650\)

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Antonio Vassallo & Michael Esfeld

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  1. Antonio Vassallo
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  2. Michael Esfeld
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Correspondence to Antonio Vassallo.

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Vassallo, A., Esfeld, M. On the Importance of Interpretation in Quantum Physics: A Reply to Elise Crull. Found Phys 45, 1533–1536 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-015-9902-9

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