Abstract

Is The Quantum Wave Function Real? The conflict between all we know about the physics of quantum systems and what we say or believe is real about them is brought forward dramatically with the concept of the quantum wave function (QWF). Is the QWF ontic or merely epistemic? Here I review and clarify through original examples the recent work of M. F. Pusey, J. Barrett, and T. Rudolph who have formed a novel theorem to decide on the ontology or epistemology of a QWF based on a hidden variable (HV) theory dating back to the mid-20th century.