Abstract
Can quantum theory provide examples of metaphysical indeterminacy, indeterminacy that obtains in the world itself, independently of how one represents the world in language or thought? We provide a positive answer assuming just one constraint of orthodox quantum theory: the eigenstate-eigenvalue link. Our account adds a modal condition to preclude spurious indeterminacy in the presence of superselection sectors. No other extant account of metaphysical indeterminacy in quantum theory meets these demands.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 11181-11212 |
| Number of pages | 32 |
| Journal | Synthese |
| Volume | 199 |
| Issue number | 3-4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We would like to thank the audience at the 2019 Quantum Indeterminacy Workshop at Dartmouth College (where we presented under the title, “Little Shallows in the Depths: Indeterminacy in Quantum Theory,”) and three anonymous referees for their comments, which led to substantial improvement in our arguments.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.
Keywords
- Eigenstate-eigenvalue link
- Indeterminacy
- Quantum logic
- Superselection