superdeterminism
nounEtymology From super- + determinism.
1
Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics A form of determinism that precludes the assumption, made by Bell's theorem, that an experimenter can make measurements that are independent of each other and of any hidden variables.
Quantum mechanics
- In the context of Bell's theorem, superdeterminism represents a hypothesis whereby a key assumption of the theorem—that it is possible to make measurements that are independent both of each other and of any hidden variables that would determine the measurement outcome—is not fulfilled, and so the theorem is inapplicable.
- If we permit superdeterminism of this kind, involving the rigorous establishment of both human experimenters and of the quantum system, then the EPR/Bell argument is essentially halted from the beginning.2012, Douglas L. Hemmick, Asif M. Shakur, Bell's Theorem and Quantum Realism, Springer, page 54:
2 more examples
- 2016, Gerard 't Hooft, The Cellular Automaton Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, Fundamental Theories of Physics: Volume 185, Springer, page 4, Bell noticed that superdeterminism could provide a loophole around his theorem, but as most researchers also today, he was quick to dismiss it as "absurd". As we hope to be able to demonstrate, however, superdeterminism may not quite be absurd as it seems.
- 2021, Sabine Hossenfelder, Tim Palmer, Rethinking Superdeterminism, Alberto Casado, Ana Maria Cetto, Karl Hess, Andrea Valdés-Hernández (editors), Towards a Local Realist View of the Quantum Phenomenon, Frontiers Media (Frontiers in Physics), page 20, Superdeterminism is frequently acknowledged as experimentally unclosed loophole (see e.g., [2]) with which one can explain deterministically the observed violations of Bell's inequality. However, for a variety of reasons, many physicists think Superdeterminism is a non-starter.
- Related terms
- superdeterminist, superdeterministic