QUANTUM METAPHYSICS - E-thesis

Precise measurements of correlation were made by John Clauser and Alain Aspect, among
others. 542 According to these, it became obvious that the results predicted by quantum mechanics
were correct. This was a strong argument in favour of non-locality. Most authors commenting on
Bell’s theorem have adopted the view that the empirical violation of Bell’s inequality has
demonstrated that quantum mechanics is of necessity non-local. 543 For example, Abner Shimony
says that quantum mechanics is undoubtedly a non-local theory when it treats correlated spatially
separated systems. His view is that this does not demand modifications to the causal structure of
space-time, but rather refining of the concept of an event and processes. 544
If, however, one wishes to presume that the world is a classical one in accordance with the
traditional view, a hypothetical mechanism should be added justifying an influence at a distance,
in which a measuring instrument can instantly affect the readings of another measuring
instrument. 545 Such models of the world are also possible, in the light of the experiments, where
the objects involved are able to change their attributes as a result of influence by the
environment. Since Bell’s theorem is not based on quantum mechanics, it will presumably be
valid even if quantum mechanics is replaced by a better theory at some time in the future. Such a
future theory can be expected to contain some non-local features.
542 Clauser 1976, Aspect 1982.
543 Stenger 1995, 121.
544 Shimony1986,182.
545 It has been suggested that influences exeeding the velocity of light or travelling backwards in time would
transmit the signal but these kinds of model result in difficulties with theory of relativity and the principle of
causality.
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