Plotnitsky A. Reality Without Realism. Matter,...Physics 2021

Textbook in PDF format

This book presents quantum theory as a theory based on new relationships among matter, thought, and experimental technology, as against those previously found in physics, relationships that also redefine those between mathematics and physics in quantum theory. The argument of the book is based on its title concept, reality without realism (RWR), and in the corresponding view, the RWR view, of quantum theory. The book considers, from this perspective, the thinking of Bohr, Heisenberg, Schrödinger, and Dirac, with the aim of bringing together the philosophy and history of quantum theory. With quantum theory, the book argues, the architecture of thought in theoretical physics was radically changed by the irreducible role of experimental technology in the constitution of physical phenomena, accordingly, no longer defined independently by matter alone, as they were in classical physics or relativity. Or so it appeared. For, quantum theory, the book further argues, made us realize that experimental technology, beginning with that of our bodies, irreducibly shapes all physical phenomena, and thus makes us rethink the relationships among matter, thought, and technology in all of physics.
Introduction
Fundamentals of the RWR View
Bohr’s Breakthrough: Quantum Jumps, Quantum States, and Transitions Without Connections
“TheHeisenbergMethod”: Algebra, Geometry, and Probability in Quantum Mechanics
Schrödinger’s Great Guess: The Time-Dependent Wave Equation
Niels Bohr and the Character of Physical Law: “A Radical Revision of Our Attitude Toward the Problem of Physical Reality”
“Without in Any Way Disturbing the System”: Reality, Probability, and Nonlocality, from Bohr to Bell and Beyond