popper-logic-scientific-discovery

9
SOME OBSERVATIONS ON
QUANTUM THEORY
Our analysis of the problem of probability has placed instruments at
our disposal which we may now put to the test, by applying them to
one of the topical problems of modern science; and I will try, with
their help, to analyse, and to clarify, some of the more obscure points
of modern quantum theory.
My somewhat audacious attempt to tackle, by philosophical or
logical methods, one of the central problems of physics, is bound to
arouse the suspicion of the physicist. I admit that his scepticism is
healthy and his suspicions well-founded; yet I have some hope that I
may be able to overcome them. Meanwhile it is worth remembering
that in every branch of science, questions may crop up which are
mainly logical. It is a fact that quantum physicists have been eagerly
participating in epistemological discussions. This may suggest that they
themselves feel that the solution of some of the still unsolved problems
in quantum theory has to be sought in the no-man’s-land that lies
between logic and physics.
I will begin by setting down in advance the main conclusions which
will emerge from my analysis.
(1) There are some mathematical formulae in quantum theory
which have been interpreted by Heisenberg in terms of his uncertainty