Author(s)

Andrew Walcott Beckwith

Department of Physics, College of Physics, Chongqing University, Huxi Campus, Chongqing, China.

Largely drawn from “Quantum Theory at the Crossroads: Reconsidering the 1927 Solvay Conference” by Guido Bacciagaluppi and Antony Valentini, but also from several books by Pais (“Inward Bound” and “Subtle is the Lord”), plus other sources, we examine some of the very contemporary themes as to quantum measurement which were debated in the 5^th Solvay meeting. In addition, we also discuss some issues given by Roland Omnes in “Understanding Quantum Mechanics” as to the problem of classical and quantum properties, which is at the forefront of the Quantum Gravity issues of how to reconcile semi classical physics with the presumed bridge between Planckian physics (presumably quantum in nature) with the rest of cosmology. The issues argued in part by the Solvay meeting as to Quantum measurements and the competing Pilot theory, as brought up by De Broglie, and how that plays out as to the later Hidden Variables and the alleged determinism foundations of an embedding structure for Quantum physics, still are with us, and make the Solvay meeting, 1927 a stellar event, still worth revisiting 90 years later.

The 5^th Solvay Meeting, Quantum Measurement, Quantum Gravity

Beckwith, A. (2023) History Lessons from the 5^th Solvay Meeting, 1927. Journal of High Energy Physics, Gravitation and Cosmology, 9, 301-352. doi: 10.4236/jhepgc.2023.91023.