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Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution

by Carlo Rovelli · 2020 · 1 reading card

AuthorCarlo Rovelli →ShelvesTime and entropy

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  1. Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution · 2020

    Quantum properties are defined by interactions, not absolute.

    Rovelli extends Niels Bohr's idea that quantum measurement creates reality: any interaction between two quantum systems defines relative properties. For instance, an electron's position does not exist until it interacts with another system, like a detector. This eliminates paradoxes such as Schrödinger's cat, since states are defined only relative to an observer. Rovelli emphasizes this is an interpretation, not a new theory, but it offers a coherent picture of quantum mechanics without collapse or hidden variables.

    “A quantum property is not a property of an object in itself, but a property of how that object relates to another. Reality is made of relations, not of substances.”

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