Is the Moon There When Nobody Looks? Reality and the Quantum Theory

APR 01, 1985

Einstein maintained that quantum metaphysics entails spooky actions at a distance; experiments have now shown that what bothered Einstein is not a debatable point but the observed behavior of the real world.

DOI: 10.1063/1.880968

N. David Mermin

In May 1935, Albert Einstein, Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen published an argument that quantum mechanics fails to provide a complete description of physical reality. Today, 50 years later, the EPR paper and the theoretical and experimental work it inspired remain remarkable for the vivid illustration they provide of one of the most bizarre aspects of the world revealed to us by the quantum theory.

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References

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For other elementary treatments see J. S. Bell’s, beautiful essay, “Bertlemann’s Socks and the Nature of Reality,” J. Phys. (Paris) 42, C2‐41 (1981), https://doi.org/JOPQAG
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More about the authors

N. David Mermin, Cornell University.