The Wave Function and Particle Ontology

Abstract

In quantum mechanics, the wave function of a N-body system is a mathematical function defined in a 3N-dimensional configuration space. We argue that wave function realism implies particle ontology when assuming: (1) the wave function of a N-body system describes N physical entities; (2) each triple of the 3N coordinates of a point in configuration space that relates to one physical entity represents a point in ordinary three-dimensional space. Moreover, the motion of particles is random and discontinuous.

Links

PhilArchive

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

  • Only published works are available at libraries.

Analytics

Added to PP
2014-01-22

Downloads
340 (#58,820)

6 months
67 (#71,542)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Shan Gao
Shanxi University

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Wave Function Ontology.Bradley Monton - 2002 - Synthese 130 (2):265-277.
Life in configuration space.Peter J. Lewis - 2004 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 55 (4):713-729.
On Uffink's criticism of protective measurements.Shan Gao - 2013 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 44 (4):513-518.

Add more references