Ebook: Interpreting the Quantum World

This is a book about the interpretation of quantum mechanics, in particular about how
to resolve the measurement problem introduced by the orthodox interpretation of the
theory.
The heart of the book is a new result that shows how to construct all possible 'no
collapse' interpretations, subject to certain natural constraints and the limitations
imposed by the hidden variable theorems. From this perspective one sees precisely
where things have gone awry and what the options are. Various interpretations,
including Bohm's causal interpretation, Bohr's complementarity interpretation, and
the modal interpretation are shown to be special cases of this result, for different choices
of a 'preferred' observable. A feature of the book is a novel treatment of the main hidden
variable theorems, and an extended critique of contemporary 'decoherence' theories of
measurement. The discussion is self-contained and organized so that the technical
portions may be skipped without losing the argument.
This book will be of interest to advanced undergraduates and graduate students in
philosophy of science, physics, and mathematics with an interest in foundational
problems in quantum physics. General readers with some technical sophistication will
also find the book of value.