Foundations of quantum mechanics and their impact on contemporary society

Abstract

Nearing a century since its inception, quantum mechanics is as lively as ever. Its signature manifestations, such as superposition, wave-particle duality, uncertainty principle, entanglement and nonlocality, were long confronted as weird predictions of an incomplete theory, paradoxes only suitable for philosophical discussions, or mere mathematical artifacts with no counterpart in the physical reality. Nevertheless, decades of progress in the experimental verification and control of quantum systems have routinely proven detractors wrong. While fundamental questions still remain wide open on the foundations and interpretations of quantum mechanics, its modern technological applications have captured the fascination of the general public and are having a transformative impact on society. This brief article acts as Introduction to a Special Issue in the Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society A, following from a dedicated Scientific Discussion Meeting where these fascinating topics were explored, giving rise to stimulating debates among speakers and audience. The present issue thus aims at conveying the spirit of those discussions.

3 pages, Introduction to Special Issue on "Foundations of quantum mechanics and their impact on contemporary society" on Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A (http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/376/2123) following from the homonym Royal Society Scientific Discussion Meeting (https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2017/12/quantum-mechanics/)

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• "Space is blue and birds fly through it"
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• Dealing with indistinguishable particles and their entanglement
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• Causality re-established
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• Quantum Reference Frames and Their Applications to Thermodynamics
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• The Small Stellated Dodecahedron Code and Friends
• From Quantum Foundations to Applications and Back
• The quantum theory of time, the block universe and human experience

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Quantitative wave-particle duality relations from the density matrix properties
• Deriving Born's rule from an Inference to the Best Explanation
• Emergent entanglement structures and self-similarity in quantum spin chains
• Aspects of quantum states asymmetry for the magnetic dipolar interaction dynamics
• Revisiting Born's rule through Uhlhorn's and Gleason's theorems