Correlations all the way Down?

          @misc{ scivideos_PIRSA:09100090,
            doi = {10.48660/09100090},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/09100090},
            author = {Rickles, Dean},
            keywords = {Quantum Foundations},
            language = {en},
            title = {Correlations all the way Down?},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics},
            year = {2009},
            month = {oct},
            note = {PIRSA:09100090 see, \url{https://scivideos.org/pirsa/09100090}}
          }
          

Abstract

I give a review and assessment of relational approaches to quantum theory – that is, approaches that view QM “as an account of the way distinct physical systems affect each other when they interact – and not the way physical systems ‘are’”. I argue that the “relational QM” is a misnomer: the correct way to understand these approaches is in terms of structuralism, whereby the correlations themselves are fundamental. I then argue that the connection to gravitational physics and gauge symmetries has a crucial impact on the attractiveness of such approaches.