Realism

In General > s.a. physics [ultimate theories]; quantum locality.
* Idea: Scientific realism is a view about things, events, processes, that are unobservable either because they are tiny or because they are past; More specifically, in quantum mechanics it is the view that physical objects have properties that exist even before they are measured.
@ General references: Rohrlich FP(96); Schmelzer gq/97; Isham & Butterfield IJTP(98) [presheaf loophole]; Matzkin EJP(02)qp; Grangier qp/03 [and holism]; Wilholt SHPMP(08) [XIX debates over atomism]; Singh a0805-in [history].
@ Arguments re local realism: Caser PLA(84) [condition]; Hoffmann FP(90); Bernstein FP(99) [against, simplified GHZ]; Santos qp/01, SHPMP(05) [pro]; Lan qp/03 [EPR, pro], qp/03 [superpositions and mixtures], JRLR(05)qp/03 [GHZ, pro]; Adenier AJP(08)-a0705 [re Mermin's argument].
@ Elements of reality: Peres FP(92); Marchildon a0802 [Lorentz-invariant].
@ Philosophical: Psillos BJPS(00) [status]; Turner SHPS(04) [abductive arguments]; McMullin PhSc(03) [Van Fraassen's]; Lyons BJPS(06) [and dividing systems into constituents]; > s.a. philosophy of science.

In Quantum Theory > s.a. classical limit; foundations; hidden variables; histories in quantum mechanics; relationship with classical mechanics.
* The problem: Local realism is untenable, because the Kochen-Specker theorem asserts the impossibility of assigning values to quantum observables (hidden variables) in a way that preserves functional relations between them (unless the state space is 2D).
* Loopholes, way out: One question is whether one can formulate a non-local, contextual, holistic one (see Bell's theorem); It has been claimed that realistic interpretations are wrong because some predictions derived from a mixture are different from the corresponding ones derived from a superposition state [but @ see Lan qp/03]; Then there is the failure of Bell's theorem for Clifford algebra-based local variables.
* Tests: It has been argued that local realism can be tested by considering electroweak CP-violation parameters values in neutral pseudoscalar meson (K⁰) systems.
@ General references: in von Neumann 55; Gleason JMM(65); Bell RMP(66); Burgos FP(87) [in defense of realism]; Van der Merwe et al ed-88; d'Espagnat FP(90), qp/98; Home & Selleri JPA(91) [and kaon physics]; Reid PRA(00)qp, PRL(00)qp, qp/01 [and macroscopic fluctuations]; Dieks FP(05) [possibilities]; Belousek FP(05) [underdetermination in quantum mechanics]; Giuliani NCB(07)qp/05; Norsen FP(07)qp/06 [against the phrase 'local realism']; Stairs & Bub FP(06) [points of view and apparent conflicts]; Accardi & Khrennikov qp/06-in [adaptive realism]; Vernette & Caponigro qp/06 ["physical quantity" and "physical reality"]; Gomatam a0708 [connection with observations]; Leggett RPP(08) [basically impossible to maintain]; Hájícek & Tolar a0802 [quantum mechanics does not contradict philosophical realism].
@ Realism vs locality: Heywood & Redhead FP(83) [impossibility of reconciling]; Chiao & Garrison FP(99)qp/98; Chen & Zhu a0711 [vs locality]; Jeong et al a0806.
@ Hardy's theorem: Clifton & Niemann PLA(92) [and entangled spin-s particles]; Pagonis & Clifton PLA(92) [n spin-1/2 particles]; > s.a. relativistic quantum mechanics.
@ And measurement: Leggett & Garg PRL(85); Ballentine PRL(87), comment Leggett & Garg PRL(87); Percival & Garraway PLA(07)-a0706.
@ Other loopholes: Kracklauer qp/98 [abandon projection postulate]; Hess & Philipp PNAS(01) [time-correlated], comment Gill et al PNAS(02), Suarez qp/02; Malley PRA(04)qp [observables must commute]; Christian qp/07, qp/07, a0707 [Clifford algebra-based variables].
@ Tests: Genovese EPJC(05)qp [using CP-violation parameters]; Gröblacher et al Nat(07)-a0704 + pw(07)apr [non-local]; Suarez a0708 [non-local realism and before-before experiment].
@ Related topics: Bohm & Hiley PRL(85) [in pilot wave interpretation]; Miller PLA(96) [and t symmetry]; Vaidman FP(99)qp/98 [GHZ proof]; Nagata et al PRL(04) [constraints from rotational invariance]; Nagata a0705 [local realism and single qubit]; Stairs & Bub SHPMP(07) [and commutativity].

In Other Areas of Physics > s.a. Ether.
@ Macroscopic objects: Reid & Deuar AP(98); Mohrhoff IJQI(04)qp [and spacetime].

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Send feedback and suggestions to bombelli at olemiss.edu – Modified 29 jun 2008