Facts, Values and Quanta

@misc{citeulike:333453, abstract = {Quantum mechanics is a fundamentally probabilistic theory (at least so far as the empirical predictions are concerned). It follows that, if one wants to properly understand quantum mechanics, it is essential to clearly understand the meaning of probability statements. The interpretation of probability has excited nearly as much philosophical controversy as the interpretation of quantum mechanics. 20th century physicists have mostly adopted a frequentist conception. In this paper it is argued that we ought, instead, to adopt a logical or Bayesian conception. The paper includes a comparison of the orthodox and Bayesian theories of statistical inference. It concludes with a few remarks concerning the implications for the concept of physical reality.}, author = {Appleby, D. M. }, citeulike-article-id = {333453}, eprint = {quant-ph/0402015}, keywords = {interpretation, philosphy\_of\_science, physics, probability, quantum}, month = {Feb}, posted-at = {2005-09-29 12:40:27}, priority = {2}, title = {Facts, Values and Quanta}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0402015}, year = {2004} }

TY - ELEC ID - citeulike:333453 L3 - citeulike-article-id:333453 TI - Facts, Values and Quanta N2 - Quantum mechanics is a fundamentally probabilistic theory (at least so far as the empirical predictions are concerned). It follows that, if one wants to properly understand quantum mechanics, it is essential to clearly understand the meaning of probability statements. The interpretation of probability has excited nearly as much philosophical controversy as the interpretation of quantum mechanics. 20th century physicists have mostly adopted a frequentist conception. In this paper it is argued that we ought, instead, to adopt a logical or Bayesian conception. The paper includes a comparison of the orthodox and Bayesian theories of statistical inference. It concludes with a few remarks concerning the implications for the concept of physical reality. KW - interpretation KW - philosphy_of_science KW - physics KW - probability KW - quantum AU - Appleby, DM PY - 2004/Feb/03/ UR - http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0402015 ER -