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Glossary Of Quantum Philosophy
This is a glossary for the terminology applied in the foundations of quantum mechanics and quantum metaphysics, collectively called ''quantum philosophy'', a subfield of philosophy of physics. Note that this is a highly debated field, hence different researchers may have different definitions on the terms. Physics Non-classical properties of quantum mechanics ; nonseparability : See also: entangled ; Nonlocality ; Superposition of states : See also: Schrödinger's cat Quantum phenomena ; decoherence ; uncertainty principle : See also: Einstein and the quantum ; entanglement : See also: Bell's theorem, EPR paradox and CHSH inequality ; quantum teleportation ; superselection rule ; quantum erasure ; delayed choice experiment ; Quantum Zeno effect ; premeasurement ; ideal measurement Suggested physical entities ; hidden variables ; ensemble Terms used in the formalism of quantum mechanics ; Born's rule ; collapse postulate ; measurement ; relative state ; dec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glossary
A glossary (from , ''glossa''; language, speech, wording), also known as a vocabulary or clavis, is an alphabetical list of Term (language), terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms. Traditionally, a glossary appears at the end of a book and includes terms within that book that are either newly introduced, uncommon, or specialized. While glossaries are most commonly associated with non-fiction books, in some cases, fiction novels sometimes include a glossary for unfamiliar terms. A bilingual glossary is a list of terms in one language defined in a second language or Gloss (annotation), glossed by synonyms (or at least near-synonyms) in another language. In a general sense, a glossary contains explanations of concepts relevant to a certain field of study or action. In this sense, the term is related to the notion of ontology. Automatic methods have been also provided that transform a glossary into an ontology or a computational lexicon. C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Delayed Choice Experiment
Wheeler's delayed-choice experiment describes a family of thought experiments in quantum physics proposed by John Archibald Wheeler, with the most prominent among them appearing in 1978 and 1984. These experiments illustrate the central point of Quantum theory of matter, quantum theory: "It is wrong to attribute a tangibility to the photon in all its travel from the point of entry to its last instant of flight." These experiments close a loophole in the traditional double-slit experiment demonstration that quantum behavior depends on the experimental arrangement. The experiment closes the loophole that a photon might adjust its behavior from particle to wave behavior or vice versa. By altering the apparatus after the photon is supposed to be in "flight", the loophole is closed. Cosmic versions of the delayed-choice experiment use photons emitted billions of years ago; the results are unchanged. The concept of delayed choice has been productive of many revealing experiments. New v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Empiricism
In philosophy, empiricism is an epistemological view which holds that true knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from sensory experience and empirical evidence. It is one of several competing views within epistemology, along with rationalism and skepticism. Empiricists argue that empiricism is a more reliable method of finding the truth than purely using logical reasoning, because humans have cognitive biases and limitations which lead to errors of judgement. Empiricism emphasizes the central role of empirical evidence in the formation of ideas, rather than innate ideas or traditions. Empiricists may argue that traditions (or customs) arise due to relations of previous sensory experiences. Historically, empiricism was associated with the " blank slate" concept (''tabula rasa''), according to which the human mind is "blank" at birth and develops its thoughts only through later experience. Empiricism in the philosophy of science emphasizes evidence, especi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Causality
Causality is an influence by which one Event (philosophy), event, process, state, or Object (philosophy), object (''a'' ''cause'') contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object (an ''effect'') where the cause is at least partly responsible for the effect, and the effect is at least partly dependent on the cause. The cause of something may also be described as the reason for the event or process. In general, a process can have multiple causes,Compare: which are also said to be ''causal factors'' for it, and all lie in its past. An effect can in turn be a cause of, or causal factor for, many other effects, which all lie in its future. Some writers have held that causality is metaphysics , metaphysically prior to notions of time and space. Causality is an abstraction that indicates how the world progresses. As such it is a basic concept; it is more apt to be an explanation of other concepts of progression than something to be explained by other more fun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Determinism
Determinism is the Metaphysics, metaphysical view that all events within the universe (or multiverse) can occur only in one possible way. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes overlapping motives and considerations. Like Eternalism (philosophy of time), eternalism, determinism focuses on particular events rather than the future as a concept. Determinism is often contrasted with free will, although some philosophers claim that the two are compatibilism, compatible. A more extreme antonym of determinism is indeterminism, or the view that events are not deterministically caused but rather occur due to random chance. Historically, debates about determinism have involved many philosophical positions and given rise to multiple varieties or interpretations of determinism. One topic of debate concerns the scope of determined systems. Some philosophers have maintained that the entire universe is a single determinate system ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philosophical Realism
Philosophical realismusually not treated as a position of its own but as a stance towards other subject mattersis the view that a certain kind of thing (ranging widely from abstract objects like numbers to moral statements to the physical world itself) has ''mind-independent existence'', i.e. that it exists even in the absence of any mind perceiving it or that its existence is not just a mere appearance in the eye of the beholder. This includes a number of positions within epistemology and metaphysics which express that a given thing instead exists independently of knowledge, thought, or understanding. This can apply to items such as the physical world, the past and future, other minds, and the self, though may also apply less directly to things such as universals, mathematical truths, moral truths, and thought itself. However, realism may also include various positions which instead reject metaphysical treatments of reality altogether. Realism can also be a view about the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to personal limitations rather than a worldview. Another definition is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to justify either the belief that God exists or the belief that God does not exist." The English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley said that he originally coined the word ''agnostic'' in 1869 "to denote people who, like imself confess themselves to be hopelessly ignorant concerning a variety of matters ncluding the matter of God's existence about which metaphysicians and theologians, both orthodox and heterodox, dogmatise with the utmost confidence." Earlier thinkers had written works that promoted agnostic points of view, such as Sanjaya Belatthiputta, a 5th-century BCE Indian philosopher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ontic
Ontology is the philosophical study of being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of reality and every entity within it. To articulate the basic structure of being, ontology examines the commonalities among all things and investigates their classification into basic types, such as the categories of particulars and universals. Particulars are unique, non-repeatable entities, such as the person Socrates, whereas universals are general, repeatable entities, like the color ''green''. Another distinction exists between concrete objects existing in space and time, such as a tree, and abstract objects existing outside space and time, like the number 7. Systems of categories aim to provide a comprehensive inventory of reality by employing categories such as substance, property, relation, state of affairs, and event. Ontologists disagree re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decoherent Histories
In quantum mechanics, the consistent histories or simply "consistent quantum theory" Interpretation of quantum mechanics, interpretation generalizes the complementarity (physics), complementarity aspect of the conventional Copenhagen interpretation. The approach is sometimes called decoherent histories and in other work decoherent histories are more specialized. First proposed by Robert Griffiths (physicist), Robert Griffiths in 1984, this interpretation of quantum mechanics is based on a consistency criterion that then allows probabilities to be assigned to various alternative histories of a system such that the probabilities for each history obey the rules of classical probability while being consistent with the Schrödinger equation. In contrast to some interpretations of quantum mechanics, the framework does not include "Wave function collapse, wavefunction collapse" as a relevant description of any physical process, and emphasizes that measurement theory is not a fundamenta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quantum Measurement
In quantum physics, a measurement is the testing or manipulation of a physical system to yield a numerical result. A fundamental feature of quantum theory is that the predictions it makes are probabilistic. The procedure for finding a probability involves combining a quantum state, which mathematically describes a quantum system, with a mathematical representation of the measurement to be performed on that system. The formula for this calculation is known as the Born rule. For example, a quantum particle like an electron can be described by a quantum state that associates to each point in space a complex number called a probability amplitude. Applying the Born rule to these amplitudes gives the probabilities that the electron will be found in one region or another when an experiment is performed to locate it. This is the best the theory can do; it cannot say for certain where the electron will be found. The same quantum state can also be used to make a prediction of how the electro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Collapse Postulate
In various interpretations of quantum mechanics, wave function collapse, also called reduction of the state vector, occurs when a wave function—initially in a superposition of several eigenstates—reduces to a single eigenstate due to interaction with the external world. This interaction is called an ''observation'' and is the essence of a measurement in quantum mechanics, which connects the wave function with classical observables such as position and momentum. Collapse is one of the two processes by which quantum systems evolve in time; the other is the continuous evolution governed by the Schrödinger equation. : In the Copenhagen interpretation, wave function collapse connects quantum to classical models, with a special role for the observer. By contrast, objective-collapse proposes an origin in physical processes. In the many-worlds interpretation, collapse does not exist; all wave function outcomes occur while quantum decoherence accounts for the appearance of co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Born's Rule
The Born rule is a postulate of quantum mechanics that gives the probability that a measurement in quantum mechanics, measurement of a quantum system will yield a given result. In one commonly used application, it states that the probability density function, probability density for finding a particle at a given position is proportional to the square of the amplitude of the system's wavefunction at that position. It was formulated and published by German physicist Max Born in July 1926. Details The Born rule states that an observable, measured in a system with normalized wave function , \psi\rang (see Bra–ket notation), corresponds to a self-adjoint operator A whose spectrum (functional analysis), spectrum is discrete if: * the measured result will be one of the Eigenvalues and eigenvectors, eigenvalues \lambda of A, and * the probability of measuring a given eigenvalue \lambda_i will equal \lang\psi, P_i, \psi\rang, where P_i is the projection onto the eigenspace of A corres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
