Finding your marbles in wavefunction collapse theories

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 34 (4):607-620 (2003)
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Abstract

Lewis 313) has recently presented an argument claiming that, under the Ghirardi–Rimini–Weber theory of quantum mechanics, arithmetic does not apply to ordinary macroscopic objects such as marbles . In this paper, I disentangle two different lines of Lewis's argument, one devoted to what I call the standard GRW interpretation and the other to the mass density interpretation . I present both strains of Lewis's argument, and move on to criticise Lewis's position, focusing on his argument with respect to MDI. I analyse the structure of his argument, and follow this with a novel refutation of Lewis's argument, drawing on the original presentation of MDI as developed by Ghirardi et al. 5). I briefly consider the debate that ensued between Bassi and Ghirardi and Clifton and Monton and interpret it within the context of my analysis. I conclude that Lewis's Counting Anomaly fails to generate a genuine problem

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Citations of this work

The problem of ontology for spontaneous collapse theories.Bradley Monton - 2004 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 35 (3):407-421.
GRW: A case study in quantum ontology.Peter J. Lewis - 2006 - Philosophy Compass 1 (2):224–244.
Interpreting spontaneous collapse theories.Peter J. Lewis - 2004 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 36 (1):165-180.

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References found in this work

Losing Your Marbles in Wavefunction Collapse Theories.Rob Clifton & Bradley Monton - 1999 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 50 (4):697 - 717.
Quantum mechanics, orthogonality, and counting.Peter J. Lewis - 1997 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 48 (3):313-328.
More about Dynamical Reduction and the Enumeration Principle.Angelo Bassi & GianCarlo Ghirardi - 1999 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 50 (4):719-734.
Discussion. Counting marbles with 'accessible' mass density: A reply to Bassi and Ghirardi.R. Clifton & B. Monton - 2000 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 51 (1):155-164.

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