In 1966 the Brazilian physicist Klaus Tausk (b. 1927) circulated a preprint from the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, criticizing Adriana Daneri,Angelo Loinger,and Giovanni Maria Prosperi’s theory of 1962 on the measurement problem in quantum mechanics. A heated controversy ensued between two opposing camps within the orthodox interpretation of quantum theory, represented by Léon Rosenfeld and Eugene P.Wigner. The controversy went well beyond the strictly scientific issues, however, reflecting philosophical and political commitments within the context of the Cold War, the relationship between science in developed and Third World countries, the importance of social skills, and personal idiosyncrasies.
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Alexis De Greiff: Osvaldo Pessoa, Jr., is Professor of Philosophy of Science at the University of São Paulo, Brazil; his reseach interests include the measurement problem in quantum mechanics. Olival Freire, Jr., teaches history of physics at the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil; his research interests include the history of the foundations of quantum mechanics. Alexis De Greiff teaches sociology at the National University of Colombia in Bogotá; his research interests include the discourses and practices of South-North scientific exchanges in the 20th century.
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Pessoa, O., Freire, O. & De Greiff, A. The Tausk Controversy on the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics: Physics, Philosophy, and Politics. Phys. perspect. 10, 138–162 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-007-0347-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-007-0347-1
Keywords:
- Klaus S.Tausk
- Adriana Daneri
- Angelo Loinger
- Giovanni Maria Prosperi
- Piero Caldirola
- Niels Bohr
- Léon Rosenfeld
- Werner Heisenberg
- John von Neumann
- Eugene Wigner
- Josef Maria Jauch
- David Bohm
- Jeffrey Bub
- Abdus Salam
- Mauritius Renninger
- Jean-Pierre Vigier
- Luciano Fonda
- Georg Süssmann
- John S. Bell
- Franco Selleri
- Otto Robert Frisch
- Mario Schönberg
- International Centre for Theoretical Physics
- University of São Paulo
- Third World science
- Cold War
- foundations of quantum mechanics
- measurement problem
- negative-result measurements
- philosophy of physics
- politics
- scientific controversy