QBism Is Not So Simply Dismissed

Foundations of Physics 50 (7):693-707 (2020)
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Abstract

QBism is one of the main candidates for an epistemic interpretation of quantum mechanics. According to QBism, the quantum state or the wavefunction represents the subjective degrees of belief of the agent assigning the state. But, although the quantum state is not part of the furniture of the world, quantum mechanics grasps the real via the Born rule which is a consistency condition for the probability assignments of the agent. In this paper, we evaluate the plausibility of recent criticism of QBism. We focus on the consequences of the subjective character of the quantum state, the issue of realism and the problem of the evolution of the quantum state in QBism. In particular, drawing upon Born’s notion of invariance as the mark of the real, it is argued that there is no essential difference between Einstein’s program of ‘the real’ and QBists’ realism. Also, it will be argued that QBism can account for the unitary evolution of the quantum state.

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Ali Barzegar
Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München

References found in this work

The Shaky Game: Einstein, Realism, and the Quantum Theory.Arthur Fine - 1986 - Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
The structure and interpretation of quantum mechanics.R. I. G. Hughes - 1989 - Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Relational quantum mechanics.Carlo Rovelli - 1996 - International Journal of Theoretical Physics 35 (8):1637--1678.
The Meaning of Relativity.Albert Einstein - 1922 - London,: Routledge. Edited by Edwin P. Adams.

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