Holism, Physical Theories and Quantum Mechanics
| dc.creator | Seevinck, M. P. | |
| dc.date | 2004-02-05 | |
| dc.date | 2005-02-04 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-07-07T12:31:43Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-07-07T12:31:43Z | |
| dc.description | Motivated by the question what it is that makes quantum mechanics a holistic theory (if so), I try to define for general physical theories what we mean by `holism'. For this purpose I propose an epistemological criterion to decide whether or not a physical theory is holistic, namely: a physical theory is holistic if and only if it is impossible in principle to infer the global properties, as assigned in the theory, by local resources available to an agent. I propose that these resources include at least all local operations and classical communication. This approach is contrasted with the well-known approaches to holism in terms of supervenience. The criterion for holism proposed here involves a shift in emphasis from ontology to epistemology. I apply this epistemological criterion to classical physics and Bohmian mechanics as represented on a phase and configuration space respectively, and for quantum mechanics (in the orthodox interpretation) using the formalism of general quantum operations as completely positive trace non-increasing maps. Furthermore, I provide an interesting example from which one can conclude that quantum mechanics is holistic in the above mentioned sense, although, perhaps surprisingly, no entanglement is needed. | |
| dc.description | Published version | |
| dc.identifier | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0402047 | |
| dc.identifier | http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0402047 | |
| dc.identifier | Stud. Hist. Phil. Mod. Phys 35B, 693 (2004) | |
| dc.identifier | doi:10.1016/j.shpsb.2004.08.001 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/216541 | |
| dc.subject | Quantum Physics | |
| dc.title | Holism, Physical Theories and Quantum Mechanics | |
| dc.type | text |