‘How to explain non-local correlations in entangled states.’
One of the most conspicuous features of entangled quantum states is that they
give rise to correlations between outcomes of measurements that are insensitive
to the spatial distance separating the measurements. The main question
formulated in this talk is whether this phenomenon can receive a causal
explanation. The underlying assumption will be that causation is best explicated
in terms of the Lewisian counterfactual dependence between distinct events.
This in turn requires that we decide what semantics of counterfactuals to follow
in order to properly describe links between space-like separated events. Several
proposals of how to do that will be put forward, and corresponding causal
mechanisms responsible for the occurrence of the observed non-local
correlations will be given. It will be argued that each causal model of the
correlations in entangled states displays some sort of non-classical features, of
which explanatory circularity is the most striking. An alternative method of
non-causal explanation based on the purported extrinsicality of individual
properties in entangled systems will be briefly analyzed and dismissed.
Date: 2 March 2017, 11:30 (Thursday, 7th week, Hilary 2017)
Venue: Corpus Christi College, Merton Street OX1 4JF
Venue Details: Fraenkel Room
Speaker: Tomasz Bigaj (University of Warsaw)
Organising department: Faculty of Philosophy
Organiser contact email address: quantum@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Part of: The Metaphysics of Entanglement
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Mario Baptiste