Article  QBism and the philosophical crisis of quantum mechanics

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RELATED (scivillage, Part 1): QBism: The most radical interpretation of quantum mechanics ever
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QBism and the philosophical crisis of quantum mechanics
https://bigthink.com/13-8/qbism-philosop...mechanics/

KEY POINTS: Quantum interpretations generally fall into two categories: psi-ontological and psi-epistemic. Psi-ontological interpretations view the quantum state as real and existing independently, while psi-epistemic interpretations view the quantum state as descriptive of our knowledge and interactions with the world. No matter which interpretation you choose, there is a philosophical price to be paid.

INTRO: This is the second article in a series on Quantum Bayesianism.

What’s really the problem with quantum mechanics? Why, after 100 years of the most profound success describing nature, are people still arguing over what that description means — that is, how to interpret quantum mechanics? Even more to the point, if we can understand that essential problem, could we tell which of quantum physics’ multiple interpretations addresses the problem best?

In the first post of this series, I introduced the notion of quantum interpretations and QBism (Quantum Bayesianism) as one of the options. Now, we are going to dive a bit deeper into the structure of quantum mechanics itself to see exactly what quantum physicists are arguing about... (MORE - details)


How quantum uncertainty saved the atom
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/...aved-atom/

KEY POINTS: In the early 1900s, experiments showed that the atom wasn't a single, individual entity, but rather consisted of a massive, positively charged nucleus orbited by light, negatively charged electrons. Under the classical laws of electromagnetism, this would be a disaster: electrons would radiate energy away and spiral inward into the nucleus, destroying the atom. But owing to the power of quantum uncertainty, and specifically uncertainty between position and momentum, atoms are rendered inherently stable. Here's how... (MORE - details)
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