Global InformationCopenhagen interpretation information
| Part of a series of articles about |
| Quantum mechanics |
|---|
|
The Copenhagen interpretation is a collection of views about the meaning of quantum mechanics, stemming from the work of Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Max Born, and others.[1] The term "Copenhagen interpretation" was apparently coined by Heisenberg during the 1950s to refer to ideas developed in the 1925–1927 period, glossing over his disagreements with Bohr.[2][3] Consequently, there is no definitive historical statement of what the interpretation entails.
Features common across versions of the Copenhagen interpretation include the idea that quantum mechanics is intrinsically indeterministic, with probabilities calculated using the Born rule, and the principle of complementarity, which states that objects have certain pairs of complementary properties that cannot all be observed or measured simultaneously.[4] Moreover, the act of "observing" or "measuring" an object is irreversible, and no truth can be attributed to an object except according to the results of its measurement (that is, the Copenhagen interpretation rejects counterfactual definiteness). Copenhagen-type interpretations hold that quantum descriptions are objective, in that they are independent of physicists' personal beliefs and other arbitrary mental factors.[5]: 85–90
Over the years, there have been many objections to aspects of Copenhagen-type interpretations, including the discontinuous and stochastic nature of the "observation" or "measurement" process, the apparent subjectivity of requiring an observer, the difficulty of defining what might count as a measuring device, and the seeming reliance upon classical physics in describing such devices. Still, including all the variations, the interpretation remains one of the most commonly taught.[6]
- ^ See, for example:
- Przibram, K., ed. (2015) [1967]. Letters on Wave Mechanics: Correspondence with H. A. Lorentz, Max Planck, and Erwin Schrödinger. Translated by Klein, Martin J. Philosophical Library/Open Road. ISBN 9781453204689.
the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum mechanics, [was] developed principally by Heisenberg and Bohr, and based on Born's statistical interpretation of the wave function.
- Buckley, Paul; Peat, F. David; Bohm; Dirac; Heisenberg; Pattee; Penrose; Prigogine; Rosen; Rosenfeld; Somorjai; Weizsäcker; Wheeler (1979). "Leon Rosenfeld". In Buckley, Paul; Peat, F. David (eds.). A Question of Physics: Conversations in Physics and Biology. University of Toronto Press. pp. 17–33. ISBN 9781442651661. JSTOR 10.3138/j.ctt15jjc3t.5.
The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory, ... grew out of discussions between Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg...
- Gbur, Gregory J. (2019). Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics. Yale University Press. pp. 264–290. doi:10.2307/j.ctvqc6g7s.17. S2CID 243353224.
Heisenberg worked under Bohr at an institute in Copenhagen. Together they compiled all existing knowledge of quantum physics into a coherent system that is known today as the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics.
- Przibram, K., ed. (2015) [1967]. Letters on Wave Mechanics: Correspondence with H. A. Lorentz, Max Planck, and Erwin Schrödinger. Translated by Klein, Martin J. Philosophical Library/Open Road. ISBN 9781453204689.
- ^ Faye, Jan (2019). "Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University.
- ^ Camilleri, K.; Schlosshauer, M. (2015). "Niels Bohr as Philosopher of Experiment: Does Decoherence Theory Challenge Bohr's Doctrine of Classical Concepts?". Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics. 49: 73–83. arXiv:1502.06547. Bibcode:2015SHPMP..49...73C. doi:10.1016/j.shpsb.2015.01.005. S2CID 27697360.
- ^ Omnès, Roland (1999). "The Copenhagen Interpretation". Understanding Quantum Mechanics. Princeton University Press. pp. 41–54. doi:10.2307/j.ctv173f2pm.9. S2CID 203390914.
Bohr, Heisenberg, and Pauli recognized its main difficulties and proposed a first essential answer. They often met in Copenhagen ... 'Copenhagen interpretation has not always meant the same thing to different authors. I will reserve it for the doctrine held with minor differences by Bohr, Heisenberg, and Pauli.
- ^ Omnès, R. (1994). The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-03669-4. OCLC 439453957.
- ^ See, for example:
- Siddiqui, Shabnam; Singh, Chandralekha (2017). "How diverse are physics instructors' attitudes and approaches to teaching undergraduate level quantum mechanics?". European Journal of Physics. 38 (3): 035703. Bibcode:2017EJPh...38c5703S. doi:10.1088/1361-6404/aa6131.
- Stapp, Henry Pierce (1997). "The Copenhagen Interpretation". The Journal of Mind and Behavior. 18 (2/3). Institute of Mind and Behavior, Inc.: 127–54. JSTOR 43853817.
led by Bohr and Heisenberg ... was nominally accepted by almost all textbooks and practical workers in the field.
- Bell, John S. (1987). Speakable and Unspeakable in quantum Mechanics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.