Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics (is there a general consensus?)

Hi :)

I recently read a book that states that most scientists believe the wave function represents a real field (i.e., one that possesses energy and momentum). I think this is part of the transactional interpretation of QM but not sure... can anyone confirm whether the book I read is right about this or not?

I recently read a book

You would fill some money refund form

Which book?

lol I got it from Borders bookstore before they went out of business, so... :P

Hi :)I recently read a book that states that most scientists believe the wave function represents a real field (i.e., one that possesses energy and momentum). I think this is part of the transactional interpretation of QM but not sure... can anyone confirm whether the book I read is right about this or not?

Even disregarding the issue of whether the quantum state has to be ontic, Bell’s theorem already implies the same issue with simultaneity. It shows that the ontic state at B must depend on the choice of measurement at A and vice versa, and there are frames of reference in which the measurements occur in either order. There are only two possible responses to this:

1. Reject relativity at the fundamental level. Assume that there is a preferred frame of reference and have the nonlocal influences operate instantaneously in this frame. The frame will be hidden at the statistical level due to the averaging over ontic states, so you will still have Lorentz invariance at the operational level, but it means that you cannot use relativistic arguments to reason about what is happening at the ontic level, so the paradoxes do not arise. This is the solution adopted in Bohmian mechanics for example.

2. Reject one or more of the assumptions of Bell’s theorem (also assumed by PBR). For example, one could adopt a no-collapse interpretation like Everett/many-worlds, which denies the existence of ontic properties localized in spacetime, an assumption that Einstein called “separability” and that is crucial to the derivation of nonlocality. Alternatively, one could adopt one of the “neo-Copenhagen” approaches to quantum theory in which the need for an ontic state is denied. Finally, one could retain realism and single-valuedness of measurement outcomes by adopting ontologies that are not considered in the derivation of Bell’s theorem, e.g. retrocausality.

I already stated in the blog post that I like the retrocausal solution, or at least that I consider it worth investigating in more detail. This is because I prefer to retain realism, fundamental Lorentz invariance and psi-epistemicism, and it is one of the few options on the table that still has a chance of doing that. If the retrocausal program fails then I would have to drop one or more of these requirements and I fluctuate between preferring neo-Copenhagen approaches or Everett depending on whether my psi-epistemic or realist convictions are stronger on any given day. To be convinced to drop fundamental Lorentz invariance, I would have to see violations of it on the statistical level. Valentini argues that this is to be expected in the Bohmian approach for example, since the statistical washing out of nonlocal influence is analagous to being in a state of thermal equilibrium in statistical mechanics, so we should expect to see systems out of this state of equilibrium somewhere in the universe. I consider this to be a firm prediction of all such theories, and so I would need to see empirical violations of Lorentz invariance to be convinced of them.