Videnskabshistorisk Selskab


Dr Thiago Hartz,
Niels Bohr Archive:

Thiago HartzThe argument turned upside down: a history of Bryce DeWitt’s criticism of Niels Bohr’s interpretation of quantum mechanics (1948–1970)
 

 
Bryce DeWitt
Bryce DeWitt
After the late 1920s, the interpretation of quantum mechanics was largely considered to be established once and for all. The few discontents – as Albert Einstein, David Bohm, and Hugh Everett – were quite isolated, and the majority of the physicists didn’t take the interpretation of quantum mechanics as an open problem. This situation was overturned circa 1970. One of the protagonists of this change was the American physicist Bryce DeWitt (1923-2004). In this talk, I will analyze DeWitt’s life and work during the period 1948–1970. I will show how he was at the beginning quite close to Niels Bohr’s ideas and why he went over to Everett’s interpretation of quantum mechanics. I will conclude with some general remarks about the history of the interpretations of quantum mechanics and with some comments about the idea of ‘quantum heterodoxy’.



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tirsdag, den 19. november, 2013, kl. 17.00


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