| Instructor: | Brad Skow. |
| Office Hours: | No regular office hours; but I am in all the time. Email to make an appointment. Short notice (same day appointments) usually work out. |
| Grader: | Melissa Schumacher, mrschuma@mit.edu. |
| Lectures: | MWF, 10am, 2-143. |
| Course Description: | This course is divided into three parts. In Part 1 we will cover enough of the mathematics and physics needed to understand the philosophical questions quantum mechanics raises. Part 2 will be devoted to the EPR argument for the incompleteness of the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics, and to Bell's argument that quantum mechanics is non-local. Part 3 will be devoted to the measurement problem and its proposed solutions. See the schedule below for more details. |
| Homework Policies: | You may work on homeworks with other students, but your write-up must be your own. Each homework except for the last may be re-submitted for a second grade. Your final grade on that homework is equal to the higher of the two grades. You do not need to re-write all your answers; just the ones you want to change. You have 1 week to resubmit a homework. Resubmit it with the original, graded homework. |
| Homework: | HW1 | HW2 | HW3 | HW4 | HW5 | HW6 | HW7 (due 4/29) | HW8 (due 5/11) |
| Comments on HW3. | |
| "Solutions": | HW1 | HW2 | HW3 | HW4 | HW5 |
Note on readings: Readings marked with an * should be done before class, and the reading should be brought to class for discussion. If the link for such a reading sends you to NB, then post your questions on NB as you read. Readings without an * are optional background readings.
Maudlin readings are from Quantum Non-Locality and Relativity. Hughes readings are from The Structure and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. Albert readings are from Quantum Mechanics and Experience.
Part 1: Mathematical and Physical Background
| Date | Topic | Reading |
| 2/2 | Overview and Introduction. | |
| 2/4 | The Stern-Gerlach Experiment. | Hughes, The Stern-Gerlach Experiment. Albert, ch.1. |
| 2/7 | The Orthodox Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. | |
| 2/9 | Review of Linear Algebra (optional). | *Linear Algebra Notes* |
| Maudlin, Overview of QM. Hughes, Vector Spaces. Albert, ch.2. | ||
| 2/11 | The Orthodox Interpretation. | Summary of the Orthodox Interpretation. |
| 2/14 | The Orthodox Interpretation | Revised summary of orthodox interpretation. |
| 2/16 | The Orthodox Interpretation | |
| 2/18 | The Orthodox Interpretation | Revised Linear Algebra Notes |
Part 2: Non-Locality
| 2/22 | The EPR Argument. | Original EPR paper. |
| 2/23 | EPR. | summary. |
| 2/25 | Bohr's Reply. | *Bohr's Reply* |
| 2/28 | Bell's Theorem, I. | Mermin. |
| 3/2 | Bell's Theorem, II. | Bell. |
| 3/4 | Non-Local Causation? | Bell Handout. |
| 3/7 | Non-Local Causation? | |
| 3/9 | The Conspiracy Loophole. | *Price*. |
| 3/11 | The Conspiracy Loophole. | |
| 3/14 | The Efficiency Loophole. | handout |
| 3/16 | The Efficiency Loophole. | |
| 3/18 | Locality and Non-Separability. | lecture notes. |
| 3/21 | Spring Break. | |
| 3/22 | Spring Break. | |
| 3/25 | Spring Break. | |
| 3/28 | Interlude: Chance in Quantum Mechanics. | lecture handout |
Part 3: The Measurement Problem
| 3/30 | Introduction. | Maudlin. |
| 4/1 | Can We Experimentally Determine When Collapse Occurs? | |
| 4/4 | Decoherence. | Albert excerpt. |
| 4/6 | GRW. | *Albert against GRW*. |
| Albert and Loewer. Notes on GRW. | ||
| 4/8 | No class; instructor away. | |
| 4/11 | GRW. | Lewis. |
| 4/13 | GRW. | |
| 4/15 | GRW. | |
| 4/18 | Patriot's Day; no class. | |
| 4/20 | No Hidden Variables Theorems. | The Kochen Specker Theorem |
| 4/22 | Bohmian Mechanics. | Albert Ch 7 |
| 4/25 | Bohmian Mechanics. | Bohm handout |
| 4/27 | Bohmian Mechanics. | |
| 4/29 | Bohmian Mechanics. | |
| 5/2 | The Many Worlds Interpretation. | Barrett |
| 5/4 | Many Worlds. | Probability in many worlds |
| 5/6 | Many Worlds. | |
| 5/9 | Many Minds? | |
| 5/11 | TBA. |