DrChinese said:
1. Arrgh! Bell does NOT require you to believe ANYTHING other than the idea that QM predicts (rightly or wrongly) that there is a cos^2(theta) relationship.
I respectfully disagree. I think this is factually incorrect. Indeed, you need SOMETHING else to prove the Bell theorem, namely, conservation of angular momentum (otherwise how can you be sure that after you measured polarization of one photon of the entangled pair you definitively know polarization of the other one?) And conservation of angular momentum is a consequence of unitary evolution of QM. That is why I repeat that the proof of the Bell theorem requires both UE and PP, which contradict each other.
DrChinese said:
It does NOT matter how QM gets that prediction or whether it is observed in experiments (which it is). There is NO other prediction from QM other than the cos^2(theta) relationship (despite your absurd claims that QM is "wrong" whatever that means in this context). So WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?
Again, I respectfully disagree. The cos^2(theta) relationship is not the only prediction from QM. Indeed, if the system was initially in a superposition, there is no way you can get destruction of this superposition or irreversibility, unless you reject unitary evolution for the entire system, including the instrument (and an observer, if you wish). So, if there is no irreversibility, that means that no measurement is ever final, in the first place. You want to know what this prediction is exactly? I cannot write the exact prediction, not within a reasonable time frame, but this is not just my opinion. Other people took the trouble to study the process of quantum measurement using a rigorously solved model and showed how the standard results we all are accustomed to arise as approximations, not as precise results, how the projection postulate evolves as a result of irreversibility, which irreversibility, strictly speaking, does not exist, e.g. due to the quantum recurrence theorem. I quoted this published work several times: arXiv:quant-ph/0702135 (Phys. Rev. A 64, 032108 (2001), Europhys. Lett. 61, 452 (2003), Physica E 29, 261 (2005)). Again, you don't need to believe me or Allahverdyan and coauthors. You are a knowledgeable person with profound understanding of quantum mechanics, you are fully aware of the measurement problem in quantum mechanics (and I gave you all the references), so I suspect you fully understand that UE and destruction of superposition are incompatible. Nevertheless, you keep saying something like "C'mon, you're nit-picking, nobody's perfect, so why pick at QM? Be a sport". Sorry, DrChinese, a spade is a spade.
DrChinese said:
Bell is not dependent on the correctness of QM in any way.
Yes, it is, as the Bell theorem proof requires both elements of QM as assumptions - UE and PP, which are mutually contradictory.
DrChinese said:
That was Bell's point actually, that QM and LR are mutually incompatible.
I agree. However, as I said, standard quantum mechanics is also incompatible with standard quantum mechanics, so if you believe your (or Bell's) statement rules out LR, it also means it rules out standard QM.
DrChinese said:
There is no controversery to what I am saying. What you are saying not only makes NO SENSE, but is not accepted by anyone I have ever talked to or read.
I am not sure this is technically correct:-), as I mostly follow nightlight's reasoning, and you criticized nightlight's opinions many times, so I guess you read them:-). Of course, that does not mean that nightlight's opinions or my opinions are correct, but that means that you have been exposed to such opinions.
DrChinese said:
Forum rules require that you identify personal theories which are not generally accepted as such, and to back up your statements with references when challenged - and you are being challenged. Or better, acknowledge that it is a personal theory with no support other than your belief and stick to discussion points that are appropriate. In this forum, continuing to push points that have been discredited - as yours have - is poor etiquette. We have already covered this ground before in this thread!
Again, what is it that I state? It's actually three statements:
1. There have been no loophole-less experimental demonstration of violations of the Bell inequalities.
2. The proof of the Bell theorem requires both unitary evolution (UE) and the projection postulate (PP) as assumptions.
3. UE and PP, strictly speaking, contradict each other.
and a conclusion:
The Bell theorem is on shaky grounds both experimentally and theoretically.
Statement 1 is the mainstream, and I gave all the references to Shimony, Zeilinger, Genovese.
For statement 2 I indicated where UE and PP are used in the proof of the Bell theorem (to use conservation of angular momentum and to calculate the QM correlations, respectively).
I gave the references to statement 3 (in the form of the problem of measurement in QM) - to von Neumann, Albert, Bassi.
So where is my personal theory? In the conclusion? I believe this conclusion immediately follows from Statements 1-3.
You state that my points were discredited. I reject your statement. I believe I gave adequate answers to the objections. You disagree. That does not mean you're correct and I am wrong or vice versa.
DrChinese said:
2. I couldn't agree more - you can improve on theories. But theories should NOT be judged according to whether they are "right" or "wrong", but rather according to their utility. For example, Newtonian gravity is actually a better theory than General Relativity for many applications (it has fewer variables). You will see that the next time you calculate the velocity an apple drops from a tree.
This is an excellent example. The problem is it proves my point, not yours. Indeed, Newtonian gravity is very useful. However, it is nonlocal (same as the Coulomb law), whereas general relativity is local, and wherever predictions of these theories differ, the predictions of the latter are correct. I highly respect Newtonian gravity, let alone quantum theory, which is a monumental achievement. But useful theories are not always sufficient to prove such notions as locality or nonlocality, which are important not just for physics, but also for philosophy.
Another example of this kind is thermodynamics. It's an extremely successful and useful theory, but more fundamental theories, such as mechanics or quantum mechanics, strictly speaking, do not allow any irreversibility, which is an integral part of thermodynamics.