Lesson test: Whether the world is deterministic

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Whether the world is deterministic

1.[2p]
Which half of quantum mechanics is deterministic?

The Schrödinger evolution of an isolated system

Correct

The measurement rule, which assigns outcomes by the Born rule

The answer is: The Schrödinger evolution of an isolated system

Neither, since the theory is probabilistic throughout

The answer is: The Schrödinger evolution of an isolated system

Both, once hidden variables are added

The answer is: The Schrödinger evolution of an isolated system

2.[3p]
What do the Bell experiments rule out?

Local hidden variables

Correct

All hidden variables

The answer is: Local hidden variables

Determinism

The answer is: Local hidden variables

Nonlocality

The answer is: Local hidden variables

3.[3p]
Match each interpretation of quantum mechanics to whether it is deterministic.

Bohmian mechanics
The Everett or many-worlds view
Ghirardi-Rimini-Weber collapse
Textbook Copenhagen

indeterministic at measurement
deterministic, with no collapse at all
genuinely stochastic
deterministic, and nonlocal

Show the answer

Bohmian mechanics: deterministic, and nonlocal The Everett or many-worlds view: deterministic, with no collapse at all Ghirardi-Rimini-Weber collapse: genuinely stochastic Textbook Copenhagen: indeterministic at measurement

4.[2p]
In which year did the Delft group report a loophole-free Bell test over 1.3 km?

CorrectNot quite: 2015

5.[2p]
No experiment performed so far distinguishes the deterministic interpretations of quantum mechanics from the indeterministic ones.

True

Correct

False

The answer is: True

6.[2p]
The thermal de Broglie wavelength of a sodium ion at 310 K is about 0.03 nm. The narrowest part of a potassium channel is about 0.3 nm. How many times wider than the ion's quantum spread is the aperture?

CorrectNot quite: 10

7.[3p]
What is the point of Tegmark's 2000 decoherence estimate?

Candidate quantum states in the brain decohere many orders of magnitude faster than neurons operate

Correct

Quantum effects cannot occur in living tissue at all

The answer is: Candidate quantum states in the brain decohere many orders of magnitude faster than neurons operate

Microtubules are not present in neurons

The answer is: Candidate quantum states in the brain decohere many orders of magnitude faster than neurons operate

Neural noise is quantum rather than thermal

The answer is: Candidate quantum states in the brain decohere many orders of magnitude faster than neurons operate

8.[3p]
Which statements about classical mechanics and determinism are correct?

Select all that apply

Norton's dome shows that Newton's laws permit a particle to move spontaneously at one special point

Correct

Xia proved in 1992 that Newtonian gravity allows a particle to reach infinity in finite time

Correct

Classical determinism holds only under extra conditions that the laws do not themselves guarantee

Correct

Newton's laws are indeterministic for all ordinary systems

The answer is: Norton's dome shows that Newton's laws permit a particle to move spontaneously at one special point, Xia proved in 1992 that Newtonian gravity allows a particle to reach infinity in finite time, Classical determinism holds only under extra conditions that the laws do not themselves guarantee

9.[3p]
Why does the outcome of the physics leave the free will argument roughly where it was?

The incompatibilist argument works equally against chances fixed before you were born, and the compatibilist never needed the answer

Correct

Physics is irrelevant to every philosophical question

The answer is: The incompatibilist argument works equally against chances fixed before you were born, and the compatibilist never needed the answer

Quantum indeterminacy has been shown to occur in synapses

The answer is: The incompatibilist argument works equally against chances fixed before you were born, and the compatibilist never needed the answer

Determinism has been proved, so the question is closed

The answer is: The incompatibilist argument works equally against chances fixed before you were born, and the compatibilist never needed the answer

1.[2p] Which half of quantum mechanics is deterministic?

2.[3p] What do the Bell experiments rule out?

3.[3p] Match each interpretation of quantum mechanics to whether it is deterministic.

4.[2p] In which year did the Delft group report a loophole-free Bell test over 1.3 km?

5.[2p] No experiment performed so far distinguishes the deterministic interpretations of quantum mechanics from the indeterministic ones.

6.[2p] The thermal de Broglie wavelength of a sodium ion at 310 K is about 0.03 nm. The narrowest part of a potassium channel is about 0.3 nm. How many times wider than the ion's quantum spread is the aperture?

7.[3p] What is the point of Tegmark's 2000 decoherence estimate?

8.[3p] Which statements about classical mechanics and determinism are correct?

9.[3p] Why does the outcome of the physics leave the free will argument roughly where it was?

1.[2p]
Which half of quantum mechanics is deterministic?

2.[3p]
What do the Bell experiments rule out?

3.[3p]
Match each interpretation of quantum mechanics to whether it is deterministic.

4.[2p]
In which year did the Delft group report a loophole-free Bell test over 1.3 km?

5.[2p]
No experiment performed so far distinguishes the deterministic interpretations of quantum mechanics from the indeterministic ones.

6.[2p]
The thermal de Broglie wavelength of a sodium ion at 310 K is about 0.03 nm. The narrowest part of a potassium channel is about 0.3 nm. How many times wider than the ion's quantum spread is the aperture?

7.[3p]
What is the point of Tegmark's 2000 decoherence estimate?

8.[3p]
Which statements about classical mechanics and determinism are correct?

9.[3p]
Why does the outcome of the physics leave the free will argument roughly where it was?