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On what it takes to be a world

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Abstract

A many-worlds interpretation is of quantum mechanics tells us that the linear equations of motion are the true and complete laws for the time-evolution of every physical system and that the usual quantum-mechanical states provide complete descriptions of all possible physical situations. Such an interpretation, however, denies the standard way of understanding quantum-mechanical states. When the pointer on a measuring device is in a superposition of pointing many different directions, for example, we are to understand this as many pointers, each in a differentworld, each pointing in a different determinate direction. We ask here whether such talk makes any genuinely intelligible sense of the term “world”. We conclude that it does not.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Columbia University and University of California, Irvine, USA

    David Z. Albert & Jeffrey A. Barrett

Authors
  1. David Z. Albert
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  2. Jeffrey A. Barrett
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Albert, D.Z., Barrett, J.A. On what it takes to be a world. Topoi 14, 35–37 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00763476

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00763476

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