Abstract

Despite being an extraordinarily successful theory, quantum mechanics as it stands is manifestly incomplete, because there is no consensus about how the mathematical formalism can be read as a description of physical reality. Consequently, there exists considerable debate over how we should ‘interpret’ quantum mechanics – that is, what it tells us about how the world really works. In this talk I will discuss a range of proposed interpretations, including Niels Bohr’s ‘Copenhagen interpretation,’ theories of spontaneous, consciousness-based and gravitational collapse, the Everett (many-worlds) interpretation, and the de Broglie-Bohm interpretation, briefly touching on the principal advantages and difficulties associated with each.