Abstract
A brief and critical survey of wave-particle duality and nonlocality aspects of light is presented. A recent attempt to establish a reasonable framework for nonlocal realistic theories based on physically sound arguments and a proposed experiment to decide between such theories and the usual interpretation of quantum mechanical formalism are reviewed. It is shown that a nonlocal realistic approach may raise some new questions which could be answered by means of a program based on a sequence of experiments.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References and notes
J. S. Bell,Physics 1, 195 (1964). Reprinted inQuantum Theory and Measurement, J. A. Wheeler and W. H. Zurek, eds. (Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1983).
J. F. Clauser and A. Shimony,Rep. Prog. Phys. 41, 1881 (1978).
We will adopt the definition of realism as stated in Ref. 2.:. “Realism is a philosophical view, according to which external reality is assumed to exist and have definite properties, whether or not they are are observed by someone.”
Reference 2,.
J. Perrin,Les atomes (reprint by Gallimard, 1970), preface.
P. Grangier, G. Roger, and A. Aspect,Europhys. Lett. 1, 173 (1986).
P. A. M. Dirac,The Principles of Quantum Mechanics, 4th edn. (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1958), p. 7.
T. Hellmuth, A. G. Zajonc, and H. Walther, inNew Techniques and Ideas in Quantum Measurement Theory, D. Greenberg, ed. (New York Academy of Sciences, New York, 1986), p. 108.
A. Aspect, P. Grangier, and G. Roger,Phys. Rev. Lett. 49, 91 (1982).
A. Einstein, B. Podolsky, and N. Rosen,Phys. Rev. 47, 777 (1935).
R. P. Feynman,The Character of Physical Law (M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, 1967), p. 129.
The contents of Sections 4 and 5 have already been discussed in a previous paper: L. C. B. Ryff,Phys. Lett. A136, 13 (1989).
T. Marshall and E. Santos,Found. Phys. 18, 185 (1988); F. Selleri, “History of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox,” inQuantum Mechanics versus Local Realism: The Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen Paradox, F. Selleri, ed. (Plenum, New York, 1988) and references therein.
L. de Broglie,Ann. Fond. L. de Broglie 2, 1 (1977); F. Selleri, “Gespenterfelder,” inThe Wave-Particle Dualism, S. Diner, D. Fargue, G. Lochak, and F. Selleri, eds. (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1984).
A. Aspect, J. Dalibard, and G. Roger,Phys. Rev. Lett. 49, 1804 (1982).
A. Shimony,Proceedings, International Symposium, Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (Physical Society of Japan, Tokyo, 1983), pp. 225–230.
This point of view has been advocated by many physicists, in particular—and quite explicitly—by J. A. Wheeler (p. 194 of the book cited in Ref. 1).
D. Bohm, B. J. Hiley, and P. N. Kaloyerou,Phys. Rep. 144, 323, 349 (1987); J. P. Vigier,Lett. Nuovo Cimento 24, 258, 265 (1979).
For a more formal treatment, applicable to our experiment, the interested reader may refer to M. Zukowski and J. Pykacz,Phys. Lett. A127, 1 (1988).
A different calculation, using a hidden-variables notation, can be found in Ref. 15.
A. K. Maciel and J. Tiomno,Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 143 (1985).
M. A. Tonnelat,Histoire du principle de relativité (Flammarion, Paris, 1971), p. 125.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ryff, L.C.B. Should quantum mechanical description of physical reality be considered complete?. Found Phys 20, 1061–1078 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00731852
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00731852