Perspectives on Quantum Reality

The contributors to this volume, most of them well-known for their writings in philosophy and physics, tackle the conceptual problems of quantum mechanics from a variety of mathematical and philosophical angles. Almost half the papers focus on the largely uncharted territory of relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. These papers include: two opposing analyses of the puzzles surrounding particle localization; studies of the problems encountered in relativistically generalizing spontaneous wave packet reduction and the causal interpretation of quantum mechanics; a look at the status of locality in algebraic relativistic quantum field theory; and an attempt to clarify the tangled relation between wave and particle concepts in the context of quantum fields. The remainder of the papers present new and innovative approaches to longstanding problems in the foundations of non-relativistic quantum mechanics - problems about measurement, irreversibility, nonlocality, contextualism, and the classical limit of quantum mechanics.