Wave Function Realism and the Mathematization of Nature. A Phenomenological Perspective

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Berghofer, Philipp, Wiltsche, Harald A.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Berghofer, Philipp
Wiltsche, Harald A.
author_facet Berghofer, Philipp
Wiltsche, Harald A.
contents This chapter reexamines wave function realism (WFR) through the lens of phenomenology. We begin by situating WFR within the broader debate about the ontology of the quantum state and the temptation to "read off" metaphysics from mathematical formalism. Against this background, we turn to the London-Bauer interpretation (LBI), the most explicit attempt to interpret quantum mechanics through phenomenological categories. On this view, the measurement transition is not a physical discontinuity but a reflective articulation of objectivity, and the wave function formally encodes the horizonal structure of world-givenness. We develop this idea by reconfiguring the notion of realism itself: not as objectivist, but as correlational and transcendental. The resulting picture suggests that quantum mechanics, rather than depicting a world "minus observers," mathematically articulates the very correlation through which a world becomes manifest at all.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_06618
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Wave Function Realism and the Mathematization of Nature. A Phenomenological Perspective
Berghofer, Philipp
Wiltsche, Harald A.
History and Philosophy of Physics
Quantum Physics
This chapter reexamines wave function realism (WFR) through the lens of phenomenology. We begin by situating WFR within the broader debate about the ontology of the quantum state and the temptation to "read off" metaphysics from mathematical formalism. Against this background, we turn to the London-Bauer interpretation (LBI), the most explicit attempt to interpret quantum mechanics through phenomenological categories. On this view, the measurement transition is not a physical discontinuity but a reflective articulation of objectivity, and the wave function formally encodes the horizonal structure of world-givenness. We develop this idea by reconfiguring the notion of realism itself: not as objectivist, but as correlational and transcendental. The resulting picture suggests that quantum mechanics, rather than depicting a world "minus observers," mathematically articulates the very correlation through which a world becomes manifest at all.
title Wave Function Realism and the Mathematization of Nature. A Phenomenological Perspective
topic History and Philosophy of Physics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.06618