PIRSA:14100001

The Minimal Modal Interpretation of Quantum Theory

Kagan, D. & Barandes, J. (2014). The Minimal Modal Interpretation of Quantum Theory. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/14100001

Kagan, David, and Jacob Barandes. The Minimal Modal Interpretation of Quantum Theory. Perimeter Institute, Oct. 14, 2014, https://pirsa.org/14100001 

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:14100001,
            doi = {10.48660/14100001},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/14100001},
            author = {Kagan, David and Barandes, Jacob},
            keywords = {Quantum Foundations},
            language = {en},
            title = {The Minimal Modal Interpretation of Quantum Theory},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2014},
            month = {oct},
            note = {PIRSA:14100001 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }
DOI 10.48660/14100001
Collection
Talk Type Scientific Series
Subject

Abstract

A persistent mystery of quantum theory is whether it admits an interpretation that is realist, self-consistent, model-independent, and unextravagant in the sense of featuring neither multiple worlds nor pilot waves. In this talk, I will present a new interpretation of quantum theory -- called the minimal modal interpretation (MMI) -- that aims to meet these conditions while also hewing closely to the basic structure of the theory in its widely accepted form. The MMI asserts that quantum systems -- whether closed or open -- have actual states that evolve along kinematical trajectories through their state spaces, and that those trajectories are governed by specific (if approximate) dynamical rules determined by a general new class of conditional probabilities, and in a manner that differs significantly from the de Broglie-Bohm formulation. The MMI is axiomatically parsimonious, leaves the usual dynamical content of quantum theory essentially intact, and includes only metaphysical entities that are either already a standard part of quantum theory or that have counterparts in classical physics. I will also address a number of important issues and implicit assumptions in the foundations community that I believe merit reconsideration and re-evaluation going forward.