After having equipped ourselves with the necessary mathematical tools, we will plunge into a careful study of the venerable mystery of quantum nonlocality. In exactly what sense is nonlocality enshrined in the theorems by Bell and by Kochen and Specker? Any solution of the measurement problem in quantum mechanics (another venerable mystery)---indeed any future physical theory---must acknowledge this nonlocality. Nonlocality is disconcerting not only because it contravenes our deeply engrained intuitions, but also because it stands in a stark tension to relativity. But both quantum mechanics (and with it, nonlocality) and special relativity have given us the most accurate empirical predictions we have ever had from physical theories. This seminar will focus its attention on this tension and track down how it plays out in all the most important interpretations of quantum mechanics available today: hidden variables/Bohmian mechanics, collapse theories/GRW, and many-worlds interpretations and recent developments of Everett's original proposal.

Accessibility/Prerequisites. As announced earlier, I plan to do this at an intermediate level, i.e. I am assuming that students will have something like my Phil 146 under their belt. Alternatively, if you have worked through most of David Albert's book, or have done something equivalent, or are prepared to work extra hard to make up for that. In particular, I assume that students are familiar with the basics of the theory and its formalism (as presented e.g.\ in the second chapter of Albert), what the measurement problem is, and what the basic interpretational options are.

Course materials such as lecture notes, handouts, etc will be made available as they will be used in class.

• Syllabus
• Lecture notes on special relativity
• Ioan Muntean`s slides on Maudlin`s chapter 7
• Ioan Muntean`s slides on Tumulka

• Tim Maudlin, Quantum Non-Locality, Blackwell Publishing (2002)
• Michael Redhead, Incompleteness, Nonlocality and Realism, Clarendon Paperbacks (1987)
• R.I.G. Hughes, The Structure and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, Harvard University Press (1989)
• Jeffrey Barrett, The Quantum Mechanics of Minds and Worlds, Oxford University Press

A number of readings for this course are available from e-reserves: Link to this course`s e-reserves page

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) is an excellent source for academically serious, yet relatively accessible survey articles on many, many topics in philosophy. You may also wish to consult the following SEP article as background reading for this course.

• Carsten Held: The Kochen-Specker Theorem
• Sheldon Goldstein: Bohmian Mechanics
• Giancarlo Ghirardi: Collapse Theories
• Jeff Barrett: Everett's Relative-State Formulation of Quantum Mechanics
• Lev Vaidman: Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
• Jenann Ismael: Quantum Mechanics
• Jan Faye: Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

There are numerous online papers and internet sites dedicated to the topics discussed in this class. Please let me know if you come across something that strikes you as particularly interesting.

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