265 - Jacob Barandes: A New Foundation for Quantum Mechanics

Jacob Barandes is Senior Preceptor in Physics at Harvard University, where he works widely across the philosophy of physics, with focuses on the foundations of quantum mechanics, the philosophy of spacetime, and the metaphysics of laws. In this episode, Robinson and Jacob focus on the foundations of quantum mechanics. They discuss the importance of history and philosophy in the same, its connections to mathematics, many of the biggest puzzles in quantum physics, and Jacob’s new approach to the foundations, which he refers to as the “Indivisibility” approach.

Jacob's Website: jacobbarandes.com

OUTLINE
00:00 Mathematics, Nature, and Physics
07:55 The Deep Link Between Math and Physics CLIP
15:21 Scrutinizing the History and Philosophy of Physics
28:11 A Digression on Achille Varzi
36:53 The Etymology of “Matrix”
41:17 Learning from the History of Physics
52:38 Why Does Quantum Mechanics Need New Foundations?
59:04 Does Quantum Gravity Need New Quantum Foundations?
01;08:26 What Is a Constructive Physical Theory?
01:32:31 Markov Laws and Determinism
01:45:30 The Wave Function
02:06:53 Inconsistencies in Quantum Mechanics
02:12:20 What Is Quantum Decoherence?
02:23:10 The Biggest Problems in Quantum Foundations?
02:33:49 Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics
02:38:57 Quantum Mechanics, Many Worlds, and the Problem of Induction
02:50:05 The Indivisibility Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
03:04:42 What Are the Fundamentalia of the Universe?

Robinson’s Website: robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.