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On Explaining Quantum Correlations: Causal vs. Non-Causal
At the basis of the problem of explaining non-local quantum correlations lies the tension between two factors: on the one hand, the natural interpretation of correlations as the manifestation of a causal relation; on the other, the resistance on the part of the physics underlying said correlations t...
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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MDPI
2021
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8151236/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34068754 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/e23050589 |
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author | Felline, Laura |
author_facet | Felline, Laura |
author_sort | Felline, Laura |
collection | PubMed |
description | At the basis of the problem of explaining non-local quantum correlations lies the tension between two factors: on the one hand, the natural interpretation of correlations as the manifestation of a causal relation; on the other, the resistance on the part of the physics underlying said correlations to adjust to the most essential features of a pre-theoretic notion of causation. In this paper, I argue for the rejection of the first horn of the dilemma, i.e., the assumption that quantum correlations call for a causal explanation. The paper is divided into two parts. The first, destructive, part provides a critical overview of the enterprise of causally interpreting non-local quantum correlations, with the aim of warning against the temptation of an account of causation claiming to cover such correlations ‘for free’. The second, constructive, part introduces the so-called structural explanation (a variety of non-causal explanation that shows how the explanandum is the manifestation of a fundamental structure of the world) and argues that quantum correlations might be explained structurally in the context of an information-theoretic approach to QT. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8151236 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-81512362021-05-27 On Explaining Quantum Correlations: Causal vs. Non-Causal Felline, Laura Entropy (Basel) Article At the basis of the problem of explaining non-local quantum correlations lies the tension between two factors: on the one hand, the natural interpretation of correlations as the manifestation of a causal relation; on the other, the resistance on the part of the physics underlying said correlations to adjust to the most essential features of a pre-theoretic notion of causation. In this paper, I argue for the rejection of the first horn of the dilemma, i.e., the assumption that quantum correlations call for a causal explanation. The paper is divided into two parts. The first, destructive, part provides a critical overview of the enterprise of causally interpreting non-local quantum correlations, with the aim of warning against the temptation of an account of causation claiming to cover such correlations ‘for free’. The second, constructive, part introduces the so-called structural explanation (a variety of non-causal explanation that shows how the explanandum is the manifestation of a fundamental structure of the world) and argues that quantum correlations might be explained structurally in the context of an information-theoretic approach to QT. MDPI 2021-05-10 /pmc/articles/PMC8151236/ /pubmed/34068754 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/e23050589 Text en © 2021 by the author. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Felline, Laura On Explaining Quantum Correlations: Causal vs. Non-Causal |
title | On Explaining Quantum Correlations: Causal vs. Non-Causal |
title_full | On Explaining Quantum Correlations: Causal vs. Non-Causal |
title_fullStr | On Explaining Quantum Correlations: Causal vs. Non-Causal |
title_full_unstemmed | On Explaining Quantum Correlations: Causal vs. Non-Causal |
title_short | On Explaining Quantum Correlations: Causal vs. Non-Causal |
title_sort | on explaining quantum correlations: causal vs. non-causal |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8151236/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34068754 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/e23050589 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT fellinelaura onexplainingquantumcorrelationscausalvsnoncausal |