On the nature of continuous physical quantities in classical and quantum mechanics
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Within the traditional Hubert space formalism of quantum mechanics, it is not possible to describe a particle as possessing, simultaneously, a sharp position value and a sharp momentum value. Is it possible, though, to describe a particle as possessing just a sharp position value (or just a sharp momentum value)? Some, such as Teller, have thought that the answer to this question is No - that the status of individual continuous quantities is very different in quantum mechanics than in classical mechanics. On the contrary, I shall show that the same subtle issues arise with respect to continuous quantities in classical and quantum mechanics; and that it is, after all, possible to describe a particle as possessing a sharp position value without altering the standard formalism of quantum mechanics. KEY WORDS: Boolean algebra, probability measure, unsharp quantum logic
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of Philosophical Logic |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 1 |
Pages (from-to) | 27-50 |
ISSN | 0022-3611 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2001 |
Externally published | Yes |
ID: 289118864