Surveying the Attitudes of Physicists Concerning Foundational Issues of Quantum Mechanics

TL;DR

This survey investigates physicists' awareness and attitudes towards foundational and interpretational issues in quantum mechanics, revealing limited familiarity but high importance attributed to these topics.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive survey of physicists' opinions on quantum foundations, highlighting the gap between perceived importance and familiarity.

Findings

Majority of physicists see interpretations as important

Few physicists are familiar with foundational concepts

Interest in quantum foundations has increased recently

Abstract

Even though quantum mechanics has existed for almost 100 years, questions concerning the foundation and interpretation of the theory still remain. These issues have gathered more attention in recent years, but does this mean that physicists are more aware of foundational issues concerning quantum mechanics? A survey was sent out to 1234 physicists affiliated to 8 different universities. 149 responded to the questions, which both concerned foundational issues related to quantum mechanics, specifically, as well as questions concerning interpretations of physical theories in general. The answers to the survey revealed that foundational concepts in quantum mechanics are still a topic that only a minority of physicists are familiar with, although a clear majority of physicists find that interpretations of physical theories are important. The various questions, as well as how the respondents answered, are presented. The survey intends to give an overview of what the opinion of the physics community, in general, is concerning issues related to quantum mechanics.