The most classical perspective or presentation of quantum mechanics is known as the Copenhagen interpretation.
Copenhagen interpretation is the name given to the orthodox or traditional way of conceiving quantum mechanics . It is identified with the capital of Denmark since Niels Bohr , the Danish-born physicist who formulated it in 1927 with the collaboration of some colleagues, including Werner Heisenberg and Max Born , was born, lived and worked in that city.
In this content, as can be seen when analyzing and deciphering it, the wave function appears approached as if it were a probability wave . In this framework it is constructive to point out that the principle of indeterminacy is contemplated and, with the help of Bohr , the so-called principle of complementarity came to light. The latter is a philosophical concept that arose driven by Heisenberg's uncertainty principle . The main purpose of the principle of complementarity is to offer an explanation in relation to certain phenomena, such as the case of wave-particle duality .
Beyond having foundations approved by a wide sector of experts dedicated to traditional quantum mechanics, the Copenhagen interpretation has been the subject of controversies, debates and criticism. Although there were multiple attempts to refute it, this interpretation remained valid and strong over time, remaining a postulate of interest to this day.
Features of the Copenhagen interpretation
The Copenhagen interpretation gives importance to common and habitual language as a tool to indicate the result of each experiment . There, the defenders of this theoretical development maintain, all the information is concentrated.
It is interesting to mention that there are various conceptions of classical mechanics that place the axis of the discussions on the nature of the process called collapse of the wave function . From the perspective of the Copenhagen interpretation in a function capable of describing a probability, it is natural that a global and sudden modification of the wave function understood as a system occurs. It should not be overlooked that there is an immediate variation of the wave function when, in some section, there is a measurement or observation of said system . If an outcome changes the information collected about a system , then there must be a transformation in the probability function as well.
The bibliography focused on this topic presents the Copenhagen interpretation as the first of the attempts to try to explain and present the realm of atoms as represented by quantum mechanics . It highlights the relevance of appropriate measurements, complementarity and highlights quantum indeterminism .
It is worth noting that for Born (who designed a rule that made possible a certain understanding of the quantum state ) and several of his colleagues, quantum mechanics constitutes a complete and correct theory.
Nor should we leave aside the issue of quantum superposition , through which the mental experiment popularly classified as Schrödinger's cat is analyzed. If guided by the Copenhagen interpretation , the cat will remain in a superposition of states (because it will be simultaneously dead and alive) until the system is observed: at that moment the superposition will collapse and a single result will be achieved.
The experiment called Schrödinger's cat, which is achieved by focusing on quantum superposition, raises questions about the limit between the classical world and the quantum realm.
Contributions of interpretation and controversies
Knowing the guidelines and positions of the Copenhagen interpretation is key to understanding, for example, what and how the role of the observer is within quantum mechanics . Challenging the classical concept of a reality of objective essence, this content ensures that from observation it is possible to define and know the state associated with a quantum system .
Numerous alternative theories and other interpretations were born driven by the idea of a spectator who, by simply observing, alters the result of a certain quantum experiment . In this scenario, investigations and discussions are opened because, while some approve the observer as a primordial element of quantum reality and recognize indeterminacy as an essential feature of the universe, other physicists believe that quantum mechanics has an incomplete nature and that there must be a deeper cloak of reality capable of explaining apparent paradoxes.
Unforgettable, on the other hand, have been the public disputes between Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein . Both debated from a philosophical level whether the Copenhagen interpretation was valid when it came to finding explanations about nature .
Niels Bohr defended against Albert Einstein the non-deterministic and probabilistic particularities of quantum physics accepted by the Copenhagen interpretation.
Alternative proposals to the Copenhagen interpretation
As an alternative to the so-called Copenhagen interpretation, there are hidden variable theories . These postulates propose that the randomness and indeterminacy observed in quantum mechanics are a consequence of variables that have not been discovered until now. According to this view, the universe truly has a deterministic essence and the apparent paradoxes of the quantum plane are the effect of ignorance about these hidden variables , as is, to point out one by way of reference, Bohm's interpretation .