David Mermin suggests that my recent proof pertaining to quantum nonlocality is undermined by an essential ambiguity pertaining to the meaning of counterfactual statements in quantum physics. The ambiguity he cites arises from his imposition of a certain criterion for the meaningfulness of such counterfactual statements. That criterion conflates the meaning of a counterfactual statement with the details of a proof of its validity in such a way as to make the meaning of such a statement dependent upon the context in which it occurs. That dependence violates the normal demand in logic that the meaning of a statement be defined by the words in the statement itself, not by the context in which the statement occurs. My proof conforms to that normal requirement. I describe the context-independent meaning within my proof of the counterfactual statements in question.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
October 1998
Notes and Discussions|
October 01 1998
Meaning of counterfactual statements in quantum physics Available to Purchase
Henry P. Stapp
Henry P. Stapp
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
Search for other works by this author on:
Henry P. Stapp
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
Am. J. Phys. 66, 924–926 (1998)
Article history
Received:
December 01 1997
Accepted:
March 13 1998
Citation
Henry P. Stapp; Meaning of counterfactual statements in quantum physics. Am. J. Phys. 1 October 1998; 66 (10): 924–926. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.18989
Download citation file:
Pay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Citing articles via
All objects and some questions
Charles H. Lineweaver, Vihan M. Patel
On the analogy between spinning disks coming to rest and merging black holes
Domenico Davide Meringolo, Francesco Conidi, et al.
Ergodic Lagrangian dynamics in a superhero universe
I. L. Tregillis, George R. R. Martin
Quantum solutions for the delta ring and delta shell
Luis F. Castillo-Sánchez, Julio C. Gutiérrez-Vega
Detecting gravitational waves with light
Markus Pössel
Related Content
Nonlocal character of quantum theory?
Am. J. Phys. (October 1998)
An entangled web of crime: Bell’s theorem as a short story
Am. J. Phys. (October 2005)
Quantum entanglement, fair sampling, and reality: Is the moon there when nobody looks?
Am. J. Phys. (February 2008)
Some loopholes to save quantum nonlocality
AIP Conf. Proc. (February 2005)
Polyhedral duality in Bell scenarios with two binary observables
J. Math. Phys. (July 2012)