Many-Worlds: Why Is It Not the Consensus?

Abstract

In this paper, I argue that the many-worlds theory, even if it is arguably the mathematically most straightforward realist reading of quantum formalism, even if it is arguably local and deterministic, is not universally regarded as the best realist quantum theory because it provides a type of explanation that is not universally accepted. Since people disagree about what desiderata a satisfactory physical theory should possess, they also disagree about which explanatory schema one should look for in a theory, and this leads different people to different options.

Keywords

• interpretations of quantum mechanics
• Everettian quantum mechanics
• many-worlds theory
• primitive ontology
• principle and constructive theories