文档介绍：HOW TO TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS:
QUANTUM INFORMATION, QUANTUM
COMPUTATION, AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF
PHYSICS
by
Armond Duwell
. Physics, ia Institute of Technology, 1998
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of
the Department of History and Philosophy of Science in partial
fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
University of Pittsburgh
2004
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
This dissertation was presented
by
Armond Duwell
It was defended on
October 11th 2004
and approved by
John Norton, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh
Jeff Bub, Department of Philosophy, University of Maryland, College Park
John Earman, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh
Laura Reutsche, Department of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh
Dissertation Director: John Norton, Department of History and Philosophy of Science,
University of Pittsburgh
ii
HOW TO TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS: QUANTUM
INFORMATION, PUTATION, AND THE PHILOSOPHY
OF PHYSICS
Armond Duwell, PhD
University of Pittsburgh, 2004
My dissertation consists of two independent parts. Part one of my dissertation examines
concepts of quantum information. I clarify three very different concepts of information
and assess their implications for understanding quantum mechanics. First I clarify the
concept of information due to Shannon, and its relation to physical theories. Using the
Shannon concept, I examine two purportedly new concepts of quantum information. I argue
that a fundamental philosophical mistake is made regarding these concepts. Advocates
of these new concepts do not properly distinguish between the properties of information
due to the physical medium it is stored in from the properties of information per se. This
distinction is crucial for developing a new concept to help us understand quantum mechanics
and evaluating i