Potentiality, Entanglement and Passion-at-a-Distance is a book for theoretical physicists and philosophers of modern physics. It treats a puzzling and provocative aspect of recent quantum physics: the apparent interaction of certain physical events that cannot share any causal connection. These are said to be entangled' in some way, but an explanation remains elusive. Abner Shimony - to whom the book is dedicated - and others suggest the need to revive the category of what may be seen as a metaphysical potentiality. Abner has described these events without actions to link them as passion at a distance': not active, but passive. The discussions gathered here are written by a truly remarkable cast of scientists and philosophers and shed new light on the most profound puzzles of our times.

Klappentext

Potentiality, Entanglement and Passion-at-a-Distance is a book for theoretical physicists and philosophers of modern physics. It treats a puzzling and provocative aspect of recent quantum physics: the apparent interaction of certain physical events that cannot share any causal connection. These are said to be entangled' in some way, but an explanation remains elusive. Abner Shimony - to whom the book is dedicated - and others suggest the need to revive the category of what may be seen as a metaphysical potentiality. Abner has described these events without actions to link them as passion at a distance': not active, but passive. The discussions gathered here are written by a truly remarkable cast of scientists and philosophers and shed new light on the most profound puzzles of our times.

Inhalt
Protective Measurements of Two-State Vectors.- What is the Referent of a Nonpure Quantum State?.- Classical and Quantum Physical Geometry.- Borromean Entanglement of the GHZ State.- Is the Quantum State (an) Observable?.- Aiming at Describing Empirical Reality.- An Interpretation which is Appropriate for Dynamical Reduction Theories.- EinsteinPodolskyRosen Reasoning in Nonlocality Theorems.- Space-time and Separability: Problems of Identity and Individuation in Fundamental Physics.- Les recettes qui réussissent toujours.- How to Ascertain the Values of Every Member of a Set of Observables that Cannot All Have Values.- Is Quantum Mechanics a Probabilistic Theory?.- The Decision Problem for Entanglement.- Bell Inequalities with Postselection.- Action and Passion at a Distance: an essay in honour of Professor Abney Shimony.- The Relativistic EPR Argument.- The History Approach Viewed by an External Observer.- Maximal Extension of an Impossibility Theorem concerning Quantum Measurement.- Feynman Paths and Quantum Entanglement: Is There any More to the Mystery?.- Bibliography of Abner Shimony.- Index of Names.- Table of Contents to Volume One.