Is quantum mechanics similar to Newtonian gravity in respect that it explains ho

Question

Is quantum mechanics similar to Newtonian gravity in respect that it explains how something works but not why it works? Or does Quantum mechanics explain why it works? (I haven't actually studied QM)

Before Einstein discovered relativity we understood how gravity worked (we could make mathematical predictions with what we knew.) but not why gravity worked (the warping of spacetime) is quantum mechanics similar in this respect, that we know how it works (we can use it to make technology and make mathematical predictions) but we do not understand at the fundemental level, why it works like we do with gravity.

Explanation / Answer

There are lots of people who have considered the possibility that quantum mechanics is not fully understood in the way you describe, and might be derivable from more fundamental physical postulates like relativity. Look up, for example, Rob Spekkens, Jon Barrett and Chris Fuchs.

Note that what you said about gravity is not strictly true, however. Newton's laws gave incorrect predictions about certain phenomena, such as the precession of Mercury's orbit. General relativity wasn't just a new interpretation of existing experiments, rather it gave us a new quantitative framework that disagreed with Newton's theory in many ways. This allowed Newton's theory to be unquestionably falsified by experiment. On the contrary, apparently no experiment has ever been performed that disagrees with the predictions of quantum mechanics. Therefore, a lot of work in quantum foundations appears to be focussed on different philosophical frameworks that can reproduce the predictions of quantum mechanics by construction.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse I
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.