QUANTUM METAPHYSICS - E-thesis

Phase entanglement associated with quantum waves, something not observed in normal threedimensional
waves, has often been described by applying the idea of multi-dimensional space.
Non-local correlations become understandable if particles or states observed in threedimensional
space are thought of as being different projections of a certain waveform which
belong to the multi-dimensional space. 551 On the other hand, the multi-dimensional configuration
spaces required to depict a wave function are evidently the main reason why wave functions are
not generally taken to be real objects.
4.2.5. Indeterminism, irreversibility and the measurement problem
Classical physics presupposed that one can always in principle determine the state of a physical
system to any desired degree of accuracy by measuring certain quantities. Measurement was
thought of as simply revealing some objective fact concerning the world to a detached observer.
Measurement either caused no disturbance to the system being examined, or the effect of the
disturbance could be controlled. 552 However, as humans could not obtain direct observations of
atomic phenomena, some type of experimental equipment was required which interacted with the
system under investigation. In quantum mechanics, when a system of exceedingly small mass is
under consideration, the state of the object is disturbed by the measuring process in an
unpredictable way and the state loses its determinacy relative to other quantities. 554 Interactions
always take place through changes in energy and momentum. The minimum quantity of energy
that can be exchanged is a single quantum, and when states are quantised, interaction signifies
that the state of the system will change in an unpredictable manner.
The fact that interaction between the measuring apparatus and the object is inevitable implies
that the state of a system cannot be measured without being changed by the process of
measurement. The nature of this ”disturbance”, the unpredictable statistical impact on the system
somehow produced by the measurement
551
Herbert 1985, 168-170. For example, David Bohm and Sunny Y. Auyang have emphasised multidimensionality.
552
For example, measurement of length did not disturb the object and the error resulting from the measurement of
electric current was calculable.
554 March 1951, 1.
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