FAJ radial diffraction logoFelix Alba-JuezAuthor · Physicist · Inventor
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The Ontic Probability Interpretation of Quantum Theory · Part III

Schrödinger’s Cat and the “Basis” and “Measurement” Pseudo-Problems

Original April 4, 2021Latest revision December 27, 2024Length 73 pages
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What this paper addresses

Part III develops TOPI as a metatheory about the meaning of Quantum Theory. It applies the distinction between the actual, the probable, and the real to Schrödinger’s cat and to the conventional basis and measurement problems.

From the author’s abstract

In Felix’s words

Most of us are either philosophically naïve scientists or scientifically naïve philosophers, so we misjudged Schrödinger’s “very burlesque” portrait of Quantum Theory (QT) as a profound conundrum. The clear signs of a strawman argument were ignored. The Ontic Probability Interpretation (TOPI) is a metatheory: a theory about the meaning of QT. Ironically, equating Reality with Actuality cannot explain actual data, justifying the century-long philosophical struggle. The actual is real but not everything real is actual. The ontic character of the Probable has been elusive for so long because it cannot be grasped directly from experiment; it can only be inferred from physical setups that do not morph it into the Actual. In this Part III, Born’s Rule and the quantum formalism for the microworld are intuitively surmised from instances in our macroworld. The posited reality of the quanton’s probable states and properties is probed and proved. After almost a century, TOPI aims at setting the record straight: the so-called “Basis” and “Measurement” problems are ill-advised.

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Primary document

73 pages · PDF

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PDFOpen Part IIIDecember 27, 2024 · 73 pages