Process Causation and Quantum Physics
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
1.05 PROCESS CAUSATION AND QUANTUM PHYSICS Cynthia Kwai Wah Ma SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY AT THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY, LOGIC AND SCIENTIFIC METHOD THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON LONDON, ENGLAND JUNE 2001 © Copyright by Cynthia Kwai Wah Ma, 2001 UMI Number: U150220 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U150220 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 I' 78Z5 THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON The undersigned hereby certify that they have recommend to the Faculty of Graduate School for acceptance a thesis entitled “Process Causation and Quantum Physics” by Cynthia Kwai Wah Ma in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Dated: July 2001 External Examiner: Research Supervisor: ________________________________ Professor Nancy Cartwright (LSE) Examing Committee: _______________________________ Professor Phil Dowe (Tasmania) Dr. Hasok Chang (UCL) THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON Date: July 2001 Author: Cynthia Kwai Wah Ma Title: Process Causation and Quantum Physics Department: Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific M ethod Degree: Ph.D . Convocation: July Year: 2001 Permission is herewith granted to The London School of Economics and Political Science University of London to circulate and to have copied for non-commercial purposes, at its discretion, the above title upon the request of individuals or institutions. Signature of Author THE AUTHOR RESERVES OTHER PUBLICATION RIGHTS, AND NEITHER THE THESIS NOR EXTENSIVE EXTRACTS FROM IT MAY BE PRINTED OR OTHERWISE REPRODUCED WITHOUT THE AUTHOR’S WRITTEN PERMISSION. THE AUTHOR ATTESTS THAT PERMISSION HAS BEEN OBTAINED FOR THE USE OF ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL APPEARING IN THIS THESIS (OTHER THAN BRIEF EXCERPTS REQUIRING ONLY PROPER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IN SCHOLARLY WRITING) AND THAT ALL SUCH USE IS CLEARLY ACKNOWLEDGED. For my father, a chemical engineer, a mathematician, a banker and a philosopher in its truest sense... Contents Abstract vii Acknowledgements viii 1 Prelude0 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Causal Connotations and David Hume’s Theory of Causation .............. 2 1.3 Russell’s Objection to Hume’s Temporal Contiguity T hesis ................. 10 1.4 Causal Continuity and Recent Physicalist Accounts of Causation . 13 2 Russell on the Notion of Cause 21 2.1 Russell’s 1913 P a p e r................................................................................. 21 2.2 A Definition of Causality .......................................................................... 23 2.3 The Issue of Temporal Contiguity between Cause-and-Effect ............. 27 2.4 Is There a Notion of Cause in Physics? .................................................. 38 2.5 Possible Solutions to the Temporal Gap Problem .............................. 41 2.6 Russell’s Causal Lines .............................................................................. 47 2.7 Reflections and A fterthoughts ................................................................. 50 3 Process Theories of Causation 54 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 55 3.2 Salmon’s 1984 Process Theory of C a u sa tio n ......................................... 56 3.2.1 Causal processes ........................................................................... 59 3.2.2 Causal Transm ission .................................................................... 64 3.2.3 Casual Interactions ........................................................................ 70 3.3 The Epistemology of C au satio n .............................................................. 79 3.3.1 The Circularity C harge................................................................. 86 3.3.2 The Problem of Counterfactuals .................................................. 90 3.4 Discussions and S um m ary ....................................................................... 99 4 Process Theories: Subsequent Developments 101 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 101 4.2 The Conserved Quantity Theory .............................................................. 105 4.2.1 Causal Processes........................................................................... 106 4.2.2 Causal Interaction ........................................................................ 116 v 4.3 Towards a Conserved Quantity Theory with Transmission ............ 119 4.3.1 A Quick Trip Through the Invariant Quantity Theory ............ 119 4.3.2 The Latest Episode: A Conserved Quantity Theory with Trans mission ............................................................................................ 123 4.4 Continuity, Identity Over Time and the Worldline View of Causal Pro cesses 135 4.4.1 Spatiotemporal Continuity, Identity Over Time and Causal Pro cesses ............................................................................................ 136 4.4.2 A Critique on the “Worldline View” of Causal Processes . 146 4.5 The “Histories View” of Causal Processes: A Modest Emendation . 156 4.6 Interlude ............................................................................................... 158 5 On the Way to Quantum Paths: The Superposition of Potentials 163 5.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 163 5.2 Superposition and the Schrodinger Wavefunction ............................ 164 5.3 The Superposition of Classical W aves .............................................. 172 5.4 The “Quantum” Principle of Superposition and the probabilistic inter pretation of ^ ....................................................................................... 182 5.4.1 The Strange Case of Quantum Interference ......................... 182 5.4.2 When Physics meets Probability: the Superposition of Potentials 195 6 The Wavefunction and Caused Processes 220 6.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 220 6.2 Process causation and Quantum Physics ........................................ 221 6.3 The Wavefunction and Conserved Q uantity ............................................ 225 6.4 The Wavefunction as a Causal P ro c e ss .................................................. 233 6.5 The Problematic Wavefunction .............................................................. 235 6.6 Towards Feynman’s P a t h s ................................................................. 245 6.7 Postscript: Bohmian Quantum Mechanics ........................................... 251 7 Feynman’s Path Integrals (Sum-Over-Histories) Formulation of Quan tum Mechanics and Causal Processes 254 7.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 254 7.2 The Principle of Least A ction .................................................................. 255 7.3 The Principle of “Least” Action in Quantum Mechanics ...................... 264 7.4 Feynman’s Path Integral (Sum-Over-Histories) Formulation of Quan tum Mechanics 268 7.5 Feynman Paths and Causal Processes .............................................. 285 7.6 Postlude................................................................................................ 289 Bibliography 2 9 4 Abstract Philosophical analyses of causation take many forms but one major difficulty they all aim to address is that of the spatiotemporal continuity between causes and their effects. Bertrand Russell in 1913 brought the problem to its most transparent form and made it a case against the notion of causation in physics. The issue highlighted in Russell’s argument is that of temporal contiguity between cause and effect. This tension arises from the imposition of a spectrum of discrete events occupying space time points upon a background of spacetime continuum. An immediate and natural solution is to superpose instead spatiotemporally continuous entities, or processes, on the spacetime continuum. This is indeed the process view of physical causation advo cated by Wesley Salmon and Phil Dowe. This view takes the continuous trajectories of physical objects (worldlines) as the causal connection whereby causal influences in the form of conserved quantities are transported amongst events. Because of their reliance on spatiotemporal continuity, these theories have difficulty when confronted with the discontinuous processes in the quantum domain. This thesis is concerned with process theories. It has two parts. The first part introduces and criticizes these theories, which leads to my proposal of the History Conserved Quantity Theory with Transmission. The second