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221 - David Albert: The Measurement Problem of Quantum Mechanics

221 - David Albert: The Measurement Problem of Quantum Mechanics

Robinson's Podcast vor 2 Jahren

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2:03:13

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7

David Albert is the Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of
Philosophy at Columbia University, director of the Philosophical
Foundations of Physics program at Columbia, and a faculty member
of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. This
is David’s eighth appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. He last
appeared on episode 210 with Tim Maudlin, which was a more
advanced episode on Niels Bohr and the foundations of quantum
mechanics. In this episode, David gives a pedagogical and
introductory overview of the measurement problem, which is the
issue at the core of many discussions about the foundations of
quantum mechanics. David’s most recent book is A Guess at the
Riddle (2023). If you’re interested in the foundations of
physics, then please check out the JBI, which is devoted to
providing a home for research and education in this important
area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in
the institute’s life.

Note: Unfortunately, the cameras turned off in the middle of the
episode. For twenty minutes there is no video, and for most of
the episode only the camera focusing on David is recording.

A Guess at the Riddle: https://a.co/d/6qcsidl

The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org

OUTLINE

00:00 Introduction

04:54 On Philosophy and the Foundations of Physics

15:35 The Bizarreness of the Quantum World

19:16 What Is the World of Classical Physics?

24:00 How Quantum Mechanics Destroyed the Classical World

29:19 What Is Quantum Mechanical Superposition?

32:18 How Quantum Mechanics Became the Theory of Reality

39:53 What Is the Measurement Problem of Quantum Mechanics?

51:05 Niels Bohr and the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics

01:01:14 Niels Bohr and the EPR Paper

01:08:45 Was Niels Bohr the Most Charming Physicist of All Time?

01:15:59 Is the Measurement Problem a Scientific Problem?

01:21:24 Is String Theory Pseudoscience?

01:31:03 Why Don’t Many Philosophers Work on String Theory?

01:34:08 The Wave Function and the Measurement Problem

01:37:57 Quantum Measurement and Wave Function Collapse

01:41:34 Hidden Variable Theories of Quantum Mechanics

01:44:54 Quantum Mechanics and the Multiverse

01:48:47 Solving the Measurement Problem with Experiment

01:56:41 Quantum Mechanics and the Scientific Project

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of
mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations
with philosophers, scientists, historians, economists, and
everyone in-between.