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Accepted manuscript

From Classical to Quantum Indeterminacy, and Back

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 September 2025

Patrick Fraser
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Michael E. Miller*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
*
Corresonding author contact information: Michael E. Miller University of Toronto Department of Philosophy Jackman Humanities Building, 4th Floor 170 St. George Street Toronto, ON M5R 2M8 CANADA mike.miller@utoronto.ca
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Abstract

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Del Santo and Gisin have recently argued that classical mechanics exhibits indeterminacy and that by treating the observables of classical mechanics with real number precision we introduce hidden variables that restore determinacy. In this article we introduce the conceptual machinery required to critically evaluate these claims. We present a characterization of indeterminacy which can capture both quantum indeterminacy and the classical indeterminacy Del Santo and Gisin propose. This allows us to show that there is an important difference between the two: their classical indeterminacy can be resolved with hidden variables in a manner which is not possible for quantum indeterminacy.

Information

Type
Contributed Paper
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Philosophy of Science Association