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Potentiality, Entanglement and Passion-at-a-Distance is a book for theoretical physicists and philosophers of modern physics. It treats a puzzling and provocative aspect of recent quantum physics: the apparent interaction of certain physical events that cannot share any causal connection. These are said to be `entangled' in some way, but an explanation remains elusive. Abner Shimony - to whom the book is dedicated - and others suggest the need to revive the category of what may be seen as a metaphysical potentiality. Abner has described these events without actions to link them as `passion at a distance': not active, but passive. The discussions gathered here are written by a truly remarkable cast of scientists and philosophers and shed new light on the most profound puzzles of our times.
List of contents
Preface; W. Harper. Protective Measurements of Two-State Vectors; Y. Aharonov, L. Vaidman. What is the Referent of a Nonpure Quantum State? A. Amann, H. Primas. Classical and Quantum Physical Geometry; J.S. Anandan. Borromean Entanglement of the GHZ State; P.K. Aravind. Is the Quantum State (an) Observable? P. Busch. Aiming at Describing Empirical Reality; B. d'Espagnat. An Interpretation which is Appropriate for Dynamical Reduction Theories; G.C. Ghirardi, T. Weber. Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Reasoning in Nonlocality Theorems; L. Hardy. Spacetime and Separability: Problems of Identity and Individuation in Fundamental Physics; D. Howard. `Les recettes qui réussissent toujours'; G. Lochak. How to Ascertain the Value of Every Member of a Set of Observables that Cannot all Have Values; N.D. Mermin. Is Quantum Mechanics a Probabilistic Theory? P. Mittelstaedt. The Decision Problem for Entanglement; W.C. Myrvold. Bell Inequalities with Postselection; A. Peres. Action and Passion at a Distance; S. Popescu, D. Rohrlich. The Relativistic EPR Argument; M. Redhead, P. La Rivière. The History Approach Viewed by an External Observer; A. Rimini. Maximal Extension of an Impossibility Theorem Concerning Quantum Measurement; H. Stein. Feynman Paths and Quantum Entanglement: Is There Any More to the Mystery? J. Stachel. Bibliography of Abner Shimony. Index of Names.
