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Henry P. Stapp

Publications and source records attributed to Henry P. Stapp.

42 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
arXiv1995

Values and the Quantum Conception of Man

Classical mechanics is based upon a mechanical picture of nature that is fundamentally incorrect. It has been replaced at the basic level by a radically different theory: quantum mechanics. This change entails an enormous shift in our basic conception of nature, one that can profoundly alter the scientific image of man himself. Self-image is the foundation of values, and the replacement of the mechanistic self-image derived from classical mechanics by one concordant with quantum mechanics may provide the foundation of a moral order better suited to our times, a self-image that endows human life with meaning, responsibility, and a deeper linkage to nature as a whole.

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arXiv1995

Quantum Mechanical Coherence, Resonance, and Mind

Norbert Wiener and J.B.S. Haldane suggested during the early thirties that the profound changes in our conception of matter entailed by quantum theory opens the way for our thoughts, and other experiential or mind-like qualities, to play a role in nature that is causally interactive and effective, rather than purely epiphenomenal, as required by classical mechanics. The mathematical basis of this suggestion is described here, and it is then shown how, by giving mind this efficacious role in natural process, the classical character of our perceptions of the quantum universe can be seen to be a consequence of evolutionary pressures for the survival of the species.

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arXiv1995

Quantum Electrodynamics at Large Distances I: Extracting the Correspondence-Principle Part.

The correspondence principle is important in quantum theory on both the fundamental and practical levels: it is needed to connect theory to experiment, and for calculations in the technologically important domain lying between the atomic and classical regimes. Moreover, a correspondence-principle part of the S-matrix is normally separated out in quantum electrodynamics in order to obtain a remainder that can be treated perturbatively. But this separation, as usually performed, causes an apparent breakdown of the correspondence principle and the associated pole-factorization property. This breakdown is spurious. It is shown in this article, and a companion, in the context of a special case, how to extract a distinguished part of the S-matrix that meets the correspondence-principle and pole-factorization requirements. In a second companion paper the terms of the remainder are shown to vanish in the appropriate macroscopic limits. Thus this work validates the correspondence principle and pole factorization in quantum electrodynamics, in the special case treated here, and creates a needed computational technique.

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arXiv1995

Is Mental Process Non-Computable?

It has recently been claimed that certain aspects of mental processing cannot be simulated by computers, even in principle. The argument is examined and a lacuna is identified.

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arXiv1995

Quantum Electrodynamics at Large Distances III: Verification of Pole Factorization and the Correspondence Principle

In two companion papers it was shown how to separate out from a scattering function in quantum electrodynamics a distinguished part that meets the correspondence-principle and pole-factorization requirements. The integrals that define the terms of the remainder are here shown to have singularities on the pertinent Landau singularity surface that are weaker than those of the distinguished part. These remainder terms therefore vanish, relative to the distinguished term, in the appropriate macroscopic limits. This shows, in each order of the perturbative expansion, that quantum electrodynamics does indeed satisfy the pole-factorization and correspondence-principle requirements in the case treated here. It also demonstrates the efficacy of the computational techniques developed here to calculate the consequences of the principles of quantum electrodynamics in the macroscopic and mesoscopic regimes.

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