Everettian quantum mechanics and the ghost of fission

Author:Quirke, Josh

Article Title:Everettian quantum mechanics and the ghost of fission

Abstract:
Arguments from fission cases, most notably made by Parfit, have historically been utilized in discussions of Everettian quantum mechanics (EQM) in an attempt to illuminate details of familiar accounts in which an agent 'splits'. Whilst such imagery is often seen as an innocuous depiction of Everett's theory, it is in fact a poisoned chalice. I argue firstly that the fission case analogy is responsible for the conceptual foundations of probability arguments in EQM and secondly, following a number of disanalogies between fission cases and Everettian branching, I argue that the analogy is unfounded. I conclude that much of the discussion of the probability problem over the past 20 years has been predicated on a problematic analogy and its effects are still apparent today.

Keywords:  Everettian quantum mechanics; quantum mechanics; philosophy of physics; metaphysics; probability; parfit; fission

DOI: 10.1093/pq/pqae106

Source:PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY

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