There is a huge literature about “foundations of Quantum Mechanics” where the interpretation of the theory plays a prominent role. The following list is of course a narrow, personal selection. A classic with a pragmatic approach to the question “what should be the relation between physical reality and a model (theory)?” is the paper by Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (1935), “the EPR paper” (Section historical sources).
non-technical Books and Magazines
- J. Ferrari, “Le principe” (Actes Sud 2015); dt. “Das Prinzip” (Secession-Verlag 2015)
- W. Richter, “Wie wirklich ist die Wirklichkeit? “, P.M. Magazin 01/2017, 20–28 and W. Richter, “Magie zum Abzählen”, P.M. Magazin 01/2017, 30–31 = german translation of N. David Mermin, “Is the moon there when nobody looks? Reality and the quantum theory”, Physics Today (April 1985) 38–47
- Ch. C. Gerry and K. M. Bruno, “The quantum divide” (Oxford University Press 2013)
- S. Malin, “Nature loves to hide” (World Scientific 2012)
- F. Laloë, “Comprenons-nous vraiment la mécanique quantique ?” (EDP Sciences 2011)
- R. Omnès, “Comprendre la mécanique quantique” (EdP Sciences 2000); engl. “Understanding Quantum Mechanics” (Princeton University Press 1999)
- B. d’Espagnat, “A la recherche du réel – Le regard d’un physicien” (Pocket 1991); dt. “Auf der Spur des Wirklichen – Aus der Sicht eines Physikers” (Springer 1983); and “Le réel voilé – Analyse des concepts quantiques” (Fayard 1994)
informal Papers and Reviews
- M. Kuhlmann, “Sein oder Nichtsein? Felder, Teilchen, Tropen — die Quantenfeldtheorie im Dialog zwischen Philosophie und Physik”, Physik-Journal 15 (June 2016) 29
- Otfried Gühne and Matthias Kleinmann, “Auf den Kontext kommt es an — Was hat die Frage „Können wir alles wissen?“ mit der Quantenmechanik zu tun?”, Physik-Journal 12 (Feb 2013) 25
- M. Schlosshauer, “Decoherence, the measurement problem, and interpretations of quantum mechanics”, Rev. Mod. Phys. 76 (2005) 1267
- W. Zurek, “Decoherence and the transition from quantum to classical — revisited”, arXiv:quant-ph/0306072 and Physics Today 44 (Oct 1991) 36–44
- J. S. Bell, “Bertlmann’s socks and the nature of reality”, J. Phys. Colloq. 42 (1981) C2-41–62
historical Sources
- Albert Einstein, B. Podolsky, and N. Rosen, “Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?”, Phys. Rev. 47 (1935) 777
- reply by N. Bohr, Phys. Rev. 48 (1935) 696
- reply by E. Schrödinger, “Die gegenwärtige Situation in der Quantenmechanik”, Naturwissenschaften 23 (1935) 807–12; 823–28; 844–49
- review by D. Lindley, “What’s wrong with Quantum Mechanics?”, Phys. Rev. Focus 16 (2005) 10
- John S. Bell, “Against measurement”, Physics World 3 (Aug 1990) 33–40, reprinted in Speakable and unspeakable in quantum mechanics (Cambrige University Press 1987)
- reply by R. Peierls, “In defence of ‘measurement’”, Physics World 4 (Jan 1991) 19
Pamphlets and Essays
Yes, also scientists defend their viewpoint with passion and exclamation marks, sometimes. H.-D. Zeh’s 1993 pamphlet is similar to a “comment” to an earlier paper by N. Gisin and I. Percival (1992), perhaps there is a “reply”, too.
- W. A. Hofer, “Elements of physics for the 21st century”,J. Phys.: Conf. Series 504 (2014) 012014
- N. G. van Kampen, “Ten theorems about quantum mechanical measurements”, Physica A 153 (1988) 97; and “Macroscopic systems in quantum mechanics”, Physica A 194 (1993) 542
- N. Gisin and I. C. Percival, “Wave-function approach to dissipative processes: are there quantum jumps?”, Phys. Lett. A 167 (1992) 315
- H.-D. Zeh, “There are no quantum jumps, nor are there particles!”, Phys. Lett. A 172 (1993) 189
- B. d’Espagnat, “A note on measurement”, Phys. Lett. A 282 (2001) 133
- Stig Stenholm, “Radical operationalism”, Phys. Scr. 2010 (2010) 014001
- G. Lindblad, “Foundations of quantum mechanics?”, Phys. Scr. 84 (2011) 018501
- A. Hobson, “There are no particles, there are only fields”, Am. J. Phys. 81 (2013) 211
- B.-G. Englert, “On quantum theory”, Eur. Phys. J. D 67 (2013) 238
Quantum Mechanics Textbooks
In this Post, there is a short list of Quantum Mechanics textbooks with a few notes about the theory’s interpretation and the measurement problem.