
Contents
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40.1 Introduction 40.1 Introduction
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40.2 The Measurement Problem 40.2 The Measurement Problem
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40.3 The Relative State Formulation of Pure Wave Mechanics 40.3 The Relative State Formulation of Pure Wave Mechanics
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40.3.1 The Internal Model of Measurement 40.3.1 The Internal Model of Measurement
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40.3.2 Total States and Relative States 40.3.2 Total States and Relative States
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40.3.3 Typicality and Probability 40.3.3 Typicality and Probability
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40.4 The Content of Everett’s Deduction 40.4 The Content of Everett’s Deduction
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40.5 What Everett Wanted from a Satisfactory Physical Theory 40.5 What Everett Wanted from a Satisfactory Physical Theory
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40.6 Many Worlds 40.6 Many Worlds
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References References
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40 Pure Wave Mechanics, Relative States, and Many Worlds
Get accessChancellor’s Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science, UC Irvine
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Published:19 May 2022
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Abstract
This chapter presents and discusses Hugh Everett III’s pure wave mechanics, also known as the relative-state formulation or many-worlds interpretation. It begins with a discussion of the quantum measurement problem and the sense in which pure wave mechanics, arguably the simplest and most elegant formulation of quantum mechanics possible, immediately solves it. The solution, however, leads to two new problems. One concerns how a physical observer might end up with determinate measurement records at all on Everett’s model. The other concerns how one is supposed to understand quantum probabilities over such measurement records. How Everett addressed these problems turns on his understanding of the aims of empirical science. This involved the notions of logical consistency and empirical faithfulness, which in the present context, depend on his understanding of relative states and typical records. After sketching how his account works, the chapter ends with a brief examination of how one might think of the determine-record and probability problems in the context of more recent many-worlds formulations.
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