The Tausk controversy on the foundations of quantum mechanics: Physics, philosophy, and politics

Physics in Perspective

Volumn 10, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 138-162

  Pessoa Jr , Osvaldo ^a   Freire Jr , Olival ^b   De Greiff, Alexis ^c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SÃO PAULO   (Brazil)

^b FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF BAHIA   (Brazil)

^c UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE COLOMBIA   (Colombia)

Author keywords

Abdus Salam; Adriana Daneri; Angelo Loinger; David Bohm; Eugene Wigner; Giovanni Maria Prosperi; Jeffrey Bub; John von Neumann; Josef Maria Jauch; Klaus S.Tausk; L on Rosenfeld; Mauritius Renninger; Niels Bohr; Piero Caldirola; Werner Heisenberg

Indexed keywords

EID: 45749127052     PISSN: 14226944     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s00016-007-0347-1     Document Type: Review

References (115)

1. Klaus S. Tausk, "Relation of Measurement with Ergodicity, Macroscopic Systems, Information and Conservation Laws," ICTP Internal Report 14 (1966), 34 pp.
2. A. Daneri, A. Loinger, and G.M. Prosperi, "Quantum Theory of Measurement and Ergodicity Conditions," Nuclear Physics 33 (1962), 297-319;
3. reprinted in John Archibald Wheeler and Wojciech Hubert Zurek, ed., Quantum Theory and Measurement (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983), pp. 657-679.
4. Ernan McMullin, "Scientific controversy and its termination," in H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr. and Arthur L. Caplan, ed., Scientific controversies: Case studies in the resolution and closure of disputes in science and technology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), pp. 49-91, especially pp. 51-54, 59-61.
5. See also "Controversies," Science in Context 11(2) (1998), 147-325,
6. and Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch, The Golem: What everyone should know about science (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).
7. David Bohm, "A Suggested Interpretation of the Quantum Theory in Terms of 'Hidden' Variables. I." Physical Review 85 (1952), 166-179; idem, "II," ibid., 180-193;
8. reprinted in Wheeler and Zurek, Quantum Theory and Measurement (ref. 2), pp. 369-396.
9. James T. Cushing, Quantum Mechanics: Historical Contingency and the Copenhagen Hegemony (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), pp. 42-75.
10. Shawn Mullet, "Political Science: The Red Scare as the Hidden Variable in the Bohmian Interpretation of Quantum Theory," Senior Thesis HIS679, University of Texas at Austin, 1999; Russell Olwell, "Physical Isolation and Marginalization in Physics: David Bohm's Cold War Exile," Isis 90 (1999), 738-756;
11. Olival Freire, Jr., "Science and exile: David Bohm, the cold war, and a new interpretation of quantum mechanics," Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences 36 (2005), 1-34.
12. Max Jammer, The Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics: The Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics in Historical Perspective (New York: Wiley, 1974), pp. 470-521;
13. Bernard d'Espagnat, Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, 2nd ed. (Reading, Mass.: W.A. Benjamin, 1976), pp. 159-229.
14. Bohm, "Suggested Interpretation" (ref. 4); Hugh Everett, III, "'Relative State' Formulation of Quantum Mechanics," Reviews of Modern Physics 29 (1957), 454-462;
15. reprinted in Wheeler and Zurek, Quantum Theory and Measurement (ref. 2), pp. 315-323.
16. L.E. Ballentine, "The Statistical Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics," Rev. Mod. Phys. 42 (1970), 358-381, on 360, n. 2.
17. Johann v. Neumann, Mathematische Grundlagen der Quantenmechanik (Berlin: Julius Springer, 1932), pp. 157-173.
18. d'Espagnat, Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (ref. 7), pp. 14-29.
19. Eugene P. Wigner, "The Problem of Measurement," American Journal of Physics 31 (1963), 6-15;
20. reprinted in Wheeler and Zurek, Quantum Theory and Measurement (ref. 2), pp. 324-341.
21. Jammer, Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics (ref. 7), pp. 86-107, 197-211.
22. P. Jordan, "On the Process of Measurement in Quantum Mechanics," Philosophy of Science 16 (1949), 269-278.
23. P.K. Feyerabend, "On the quantum-theory of measurement," and G. Süssmann, "An analysis of measurement," in S. Körner, ed., Observation and Interpretation: A Symposium of Philosophers and Physicists (New York: Academic Press and London: Butterworths Scientific Publications, 1957), pp. 121-130, 131-136.
24. Niels Bohr, "Unity of Knowledge," in Niels Bohr, Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge (New York: Wiley, 1958), pp. 67-82, quote on p. 73.
25. Daneri, Loinger, and Prosperi, "Quantum Theory of Measurement" (ref. 2).
26. Léon van Hove, "The Ergodic Behavior of Quantum Many-Body Systems," Physica 25 (1959), 268-276.
27. Léon Rosenfeld, "The Measuring Process in Quantum Mechanics," Progress of Theoretical Physics, Supplement, Extra Number (1965), 222-231, especially pp. 225, 230;
28. reprinted in Robert S. Cohen and John J. Stachel, ed., Selected Papers of Léon Rosenfeld (Dordrecht, Boston, London: D. Reidel, 1979), pp. 536-546, especially pp. 539-540, 545.
29. P. Caldirola, "Teoria della misurazione e teoremi ergodici nella meccanica quantistica," Giornale di Física 6 (1965), 228-237;
30. Augusto Garuccio and Matteo Leone, "La fisica teorica tra Milano e Pavia (1945-1965)," in Giuseppe Giuliani, ed., Per una storia della Fisica Italiana 1945-1965. I. Física della matéria, fisica teorica, insegnamento della Fisica (Pavia: La Goliardica Pavese, 2002), pp. 35-80, especially pp. 66-68, 78-90. By June 2003, DLP's paper was cited more than 140 times in the literature; see the ISI Web of Science.
31. Wigner, "Problem of Measurement" (ref. 12).
32. Tausk, "Relation of Measurement with Ergodicity" (ref. 1).
33. J.M. Jauch, E.P. Wigner, and M.M. Yanase, "Some Comments concerning Measurements in Quantum Mechanics," Il Nuovo Cimento B 48 (1967), 144-151, especially 150-151 [received December 1, 1966].
34. M. Renninger, "Messungen ohne Störung des Messobjekts," Zeitschrift für Physik 158 (1960), 417-421.
35. A. Loinger, "Comments on a Recent Paper Concerning the Quantum Theory of Measurement," Nuc. Phys. A 108 (1968), 245-249.
36. R.H. Dicke, "Interaction-free quantum measurements: A paradox?" Amer. J. Phys. 49 (1981), 925-930.
37. Ana Maria Ribeiro de Andrade, "Os raios cósmicos entre a ciência e as relações internacionais," in Marcos Chor Maio, ed., Ciência, Política e relações internacionais ensaios sobre Paulo Carneiro (Rio de Janeiro: Editora Fiocruz, 2004), pp. 215-242.
38. Osvaldo Pessoa. Jr., interviews of Klaus S. Tausk, 1991 and 1999.
39. Georg Süssmann, "Über den Meßvorgang," Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Klasse, Abhandlungen, Neue Folge, 88 (1958), 3-41.
40. Hitoshi Wakita, "Measurement in Quantum Mechanics," Prog. Theor. Phys. 23 (1960), 32-40.
41. Renninger, "Messungen" (ref. 24); for a discussion, see Jammer, Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics (ref. 7), pp. 495-496.
42. Alexis De Greiff, "The tale of two peripheries: The creation of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste," Hist. Stud. Phys. and Bio. Sci. 33 (2002), 33-59.
43. Tausk, "Relation of Measurement with Ergodicity" (ref. 1).
44. Daneri, Loinger and Prosperi, "Quantum Theory of Measurement" (ref. 2).
45. Werner Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958), pp. 44-58.
46. A. Daneri, A. Loinger, and G.M. Prosperi, "Further Remarks on the Relations Between Statistical Mechanics and Quantum Theory of Measurement," N. Cim. B 44 (1966), 119-128.
47. On Tausk's research proposal, see Luciano Fonda, "Report [to Salam] on the Fellows of the Centre," February 10, 1967, D.1713, International Advanced School of Physics, ICTP, Trieste.
48. Klaus S. Tausk in English to Rosenfeld, Graz, October 10, 1966, Léon Rosenfeld Papers, Niels Bohr Archive, Copenhagen, Denmark.
49. Rosenfeld, "Measuring Process" (ref. 19).
50. Daneri, Loinger and Prosperi, "Further Remarks" (ref. 36), p. 127.
51. Tausk, "Relation of Measurement with Ergodicity" (ref. 1), abstract.
52. Angelo Loinger in Italian to President of the Società Italiana di Fisica, Pavia, September 9, 1966, Personal Archive of Klaus S. Tausk, São Paulo, Brazil.
53. A. Loinger, "Scienza e quattrini," L'Europeo 39 (September 22, 1966), 3.
54. Alexis De Greiff, "The International Centre for Theoretical Physics, 1960-1979: Ideology and Practice in a United Nations Institution for Scientific Cooperation and Third World Development," Ph.D. Dissertation, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, 2001, chapter 6.
55. Rosenfeld in English to Salam, Copenhagen, September 20, 1966, Personal Archive of Tausk (ref. 42).
56. Ibid.
57. Ibid.
58. Salam in English to Rosenfeld, Trieste, September 26, 1966, Rosenfeld Papers (ref. 38).
59. Ibid.
60. Rosenfeld in English to Salam, Copenhagen, October 4, 1966, Rosenfeld Papers (ref. 38).
61. Bohm in English to Fonda, with copies to Salam, Budini, and Tausk, London, September 26, 1966, Personal Archive of Tausk (ref. 42).
62. Bohm in English to K. Tausk, London, October 1, 1966, Personal Archive of Tausk (ref. 42).
63. Jauch in English to Fonda, Geneva, October 4, 1966, Rosenfeld Papers (ref. 38); the conclusion Jauch quoted was from Tausk, "Relation of Measurement with Ergodicity" (ref. 1), p. 22.
64. These missing citations were: Wigner, "Problem of Measurement" (ref. 12) and J.M. Jauch, "The Problem of Measurement in Quantum Mechanics," Helvetica Physica Acta 37 (1964), 293-316.
65. Jauch to Fonda, October 4, 1966 (ref. 53).
66. Tausk to Rosenfeld, October 10, 1966 (ref. 38). Tausk is quoting Georg Süssmann in German to Tausk, Frankfurt, September 16, 1966, Personal Archive of Tausk (ref. 42). Süssmann's original German is: "Ihre Arbeit habe ich mit grossem Interesse gelesen. Was Sie zu DPLI und zu Rosenfelds Kommentar sagen, leuchtet mir durchaus ein."
67. Daniele Amati, Paolo Budini, and Luciano Fonda in Italian to President of the Società Italiana di Fisica, Trieste, October 11, 1966, Rosenfeld Papers (ref. 38).
68. Angelo Loinger in Italian to President of the Società Italiana di Fisica, Pavia, October 20, 1966, Rosenfeld Papers (ref. 38).
69. Fonda in English to Tausk, Trieste, October 17, 1966, Personal Archive of Tausk (ref. 42).
70. Pessoa interviews of Tausk (ref. 28), and Jauch to Fonda, October 4, 1966 (ref. 53).
71. Bell in English to Loinger, Geneva, October 26, 1966, Rosenfeld Papers (ref. 38).
72. Loinger in English to Bell, Pavia, October 31, 1966, Rosenfeld Papers (ref. 38).
73. J.S. Bell, "On the Einstein Podolsky Rosen Paradox," Physics 1 (1964), 195-200;
74. reprinted in J.S. Bell, Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics, Revised ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 14-21,
75. and in Wheeler and Zurek, Quantum Theory and Measurement (ref. 2), pp. 403-408.
76. D. Bohm and J. Bub, "A Proposed Solution of the Measurement Problem in Quantum Mechanics by a Hidden Variable Theory," Rev. Mod. Phys. 38 (1966), 453-469.
77. Bub in English to Tausk, Minneapolis, November 15, 1966, Personal Archive of Tausk (ref. 42).
78. J. Bub, "The Daneri-Loinger-Prosperi Quantum Theory of Measurement," N. Cim. B 57 (1968), 503-520, on 505, n. 10.
79. Jauch, Wigner and Yanase, "Some Comments" (ref. 23).
80. Jauch in English to Wigner, September 16, 1966, Eugene P. Wigner Papers, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library, Box 71, Folder 3.
81. Wigner in English to Jauch, September 6, October 5, October 25, 1966, Wigner Papers (ref. 68), Box 94, Folder 7; Wigner in English to Jauch, November 22, 1966, ibid., Box 71, Folder 3; Jauch in English to Wigner, October 13, 1966, ibid., Box 71, Folder 3; and Jauch to Wigner, September 16, 1966 (ref. 68).
82. Franco Selleri, "Comments on the Thesis 'A Medida na Mecânica Quântica' by K.S. Tausk," 1972, 2 pp. Personal Archive of Tausk (ref. 42).
83. Piero Caldirola, "A Geometrical Model of Point Electron," in Volume especial de julho dedicado aos "70 anos de Mário Schönberg," Revista Brasileira de Física (July 1984), 228-260; on p. 228 he wrote, "the author never forgot the precious advices received from Mario at the beginning of his scientific career in 1938 at Roma University." For a biographical note on Schönberg, see Norberto C. Fernandes, Mauro Cattani, Ivan Ventura, Kazuo Ueta, and Sílvio R.A. Salinas, "Mário Schönberg on his 70th Birthday," ibid., pp. V-VI.
84. Pessoa interviews of Tausk (ref. 28).
85. Klaus S. Tausk, "A Medida na Mecânica Quântica," Ph.D. Dissertation, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras, Universidade de São Paulo, 1967, 60 pp.
86. Pessoa interviews of Tausk (ref. 28).
87. Selleri, "Comments on the Thesis" (ref. 70).
88. Wigner, "Problem of Measurement" (ref. 12), p. 7..
89. Daneri, Loinger and Prosperi, "Further Remarks" (ref. 36), p. 120.
90. Wigner to Jauch, September 6, 1966 (ref. 69).
91. Jauch, Wigner, and Yanase, "Some Comments" (ref. 23).
92. O.R. Frisch, "The Conceptual Problem of Quantum Theory from the Experimentalist's Point of View," in Ted Bastin, ed., Quantum Theory and Beyond: Essays and Discussions arising from a Colloquium (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971), pp. 13-21, on p. 14.
93. Olival Freire, Jr., "The Historical Roots of 'Foundations of Physics' as Field of Research (1950-1970)," Foundations of Physics 34 (2004), 1741-1760;
94. idem, "Quantum Controversy and Marxism," Historia Scientiarum 7 (1997), 137-152.
95. Frisch in German to Hugo Tausk, Geneva, September 16, 1967, Personal Archive of Tausk (ref. 42).
96. Freire, "Historical Roots" (ref. 81).
97. Ibid.
98. Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa Process number 0208/67. In justifying the award of the scholarship, Tausk gave Mario Schönberg, José Goldenberg, and Hans Joos as his references. He also attached Bub's letter to him of November 15, 1966 (ref. 65) and a letter of invitation to him of July 28, 1966, from Vigier in Paris, where he planned to study elementary particles within Vigier's approach, specifically to "analyze the possibility of unifying the external dynamical symmetry of Elementary Particles with its internal symmetry, by introducing the De Sitter space." Tausk's request was supported favorably by José Goldenberg, who commented on Tausk's work in Trieste: "This work of his on the measurement theory in quantum mechanics attracted considerable interest and, because of it, he was invited by Prof. Vigier for a period of work in Paris."
99. Sharon Traweek, Beamtimes and Lifetimes: The World of High Energy Physicists (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1988), pp. 121-122.
100. Salam to Rosenfeld, September 26, 1966 (ref. 48).
101. Tausk, "Relation of Measurement with Ergodicity" (ref. 1), p. 4.
102. Bohm to Tausk, October 1, 1966 (ref. 52).
103. Bub, "Daneri-Loinger-Prosperi Quantum Theory" (ref. 66).
104. Jauch to Fonda, October 4, 1966 (ref. 53).
105. Tausk, "Relation of Measurement with Ergodicity" (ref. 1), p. 20.
106. Loinger, "Comments on a Recent Paper" (ref. 25), pp. 246-248.
107. Tausk, "Relation of Measurement with Ergodicity" (ref. 1), p. 23.
108. Tausk, "A Medida na Mecânica Quântica" (ref. 73), p. 55.
109. Pessoa interviews of Tausk (ref. 28).
110. Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy (ref. 35), pp. 54-55.
111. Tausk, "Relation of Measurement with Ergodicity" (ref. 1), p. 32.
112. Tausk, "A Medida na Mecânica Quântica" (ref. 73), pp. 29-31.
113. P.H. Eberhard, "Bell's Theorem and the Different Concepts of Locality," N. Cim. B 46 (1978), 392-419, on 416-417.
114. A. Einstein, B. Podolsky, and N. Rosen, "Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?" Phys. Rev. 47 (1935), 777-780;
115. reprinted in Wheeler and Zurek, Quantum Theory and Measurement (ref. 2), pp. 138-141.