Open AccessIt's a Matter of Principle: Scientific Explanation in Information‐Theoretic Reconstructions of Quantum Theory
Author(s) -
Felline Laura
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
dialectica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.483
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 1746-8361
pISSN - 0012-2017
DOI - 10.1111/1746-8361.12160
Subject(s) - quantum nonlocality , axiom , epistemology , quantum , theoretical physics , axiomatic system , characterization (materials science) , philosophy of science , scientific theory , mathematical economics , mathematics , philosophy , computer science , quantum mechanics , physics , quantum entanglement , geometry , optics
The aim of this paper is to explore the ways in which Axiomatic Reconstructions of Quantum Theory in terms of Information‐Theoretic principles (ARQITs) can contribute to explaining and understanding quantum phenomena, as well as to study their explanatory limitations. This is achieved in part by offering an account of the kind of explanation that axiomatic reconstructions of Quantum Theory provide, and re‐evaluating the epistemic status of the program in light of this explanation. As illustrative case studies, I take Clifton's, Bub's and Halvorson's characterization theorem and Popescu's and Rohrlich's toy models, and their explanatory contribution with respect to quantum nonlocality. On the one hand, I argue that ARQITs can aspire to provide genuine explanations of (some aspects of) quantum nonlocality. On the other hand, I argue that such explanations cannot rule out a mechanical quantum theory.