Quantum theory and determinism

Lev Vaidman*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

42 Scopus citations

Abstract

Historically, appearance of the quantum theory led to a prevailing view that Nature is indeterministic. The arguments for the indeterminism and proposals for indeterministic and deterministic approaches are reviewed. These include collapse theories, Bohmian Mechanics and the many-worlds interpretation. It is argued that ontic interpretations of the quantum wave function provide simpler and clearer physical explanation and that the many-worlds interpretation is the most attractive since it provides a deterministic and local theory for our physical Universe explaining the illusion of randomness and nonlocality in the world we experience.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5-38
Number of pages34
JournalQuantum Studies: Mathematics and Foundations
Volume1
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Sep 2014

Funding

FundersFunder number
United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation
Israel Science Foundation1125/10

    Keywords

    • Bohmian mechanics
    • Collapse theories
    • Many-worlds interpretation
    • Wave function ontology

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Quantum theory and determinism'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this