Quantum Meaning presents a Semantic Interpretation of Quantum Theory in which atomic objects are treated as symbols instead of things. Classical physics treated reality as things and the quantum-classical conflict is traced to this difference between symbols and things. The interpretation argues that the current quantum theory is incomplete because it describes symbols in terms of the symbol’s physical properties rather than their information content. The Semantic Interpretation shows that by treating quanta as symbols, current problems of incompleteness, statistics, uncertainty, and non-locality are solved.
Most current interpretations of quantum theory treat the macroscopic world classically, disregarding the fact that quantum theory applies equally well to the macroscopic world as well. The Semantic Interpretation argues that this reduction (and the ensuing measurement problem) is mistaken because classical physics is not an accurate description of information-bearing macroscopic objects such as books, music, paintings, which have meanings in addition to physical properties. By treating matter semantically, the same theory can apply equally well to the macroscopic and atomic realities.
The Semantic Interpretation attributes information to space-time properties, by reinterpreting space-time as a container of symbols rather than types. An object at a different location is a different type of object. The semantic view, therefore, does not require additional observables or variables. It requires us to interpret the observations in a new way. Like a book can be weighed or read, the world can be measured or understood. The latter produces a different description of nature. The book shows how matter can be described in a radically new way, without requiring new sensations or hidden-variables, thereby avoiding the limitations of Bell’s Theorem.
The book also discusses the semantic interpretations of other quantum phenomena such as the constant speed of light, quasi-particles, anti-particles, and decoherence. The semantic view helps understand century-long quantum dilemmas, but can also pave the path towards a newer theory without the quantum classical-conflict (which today prevents the unification of quantum theory with relativity). The discussion shows how semantic view makes it possible to go beyond current quantum experiments into semantic laws.