Article
Article
Hidden variables
Article By:
Fry, Edward S. Department of Physics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
Last reviewed:August 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.317850
Additional variables or parameters that would supplement quantum mechanics so as to make it like classical mechanics. Hidden variables would make it possible to unambiguously predict (as in classical mechanics) the result of a specific measurement on a single microscopic system. In contrast, quantum mechanics can give only probabilities for the various possible results of that measurement. Hidden variables would thus provide deeper insights into the quantum-mechanical probabilities. In this sense the relationship between quantum mechanics and hidden variables could be analogous to the relationship between thermodynamics (for example, temperature) and statistical mechanics (the motions of the individual molecules). See also: Statistical mechanics
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