Why does Schr\"odinger's cat refuse to be quantic

TL;DR

This paper revisits Schrödinger's cat paradox to argue that quantum reality is both physically real and requires an expanded notion of 'what is real', blending actuality and potentiality.

Contribution

It proposes a new interpretation of quantum ontology that distinguishes between real and potential aspects of quantum entities, addressing the quantum enigma.

Findings

Quantum world has a sound physical reality.

Requires an enlarged notion of 'what is real'.

Distinguishes between actual and potential reality.

Abstract

Both at formal and philosophical levels, decades of efforts have been devoted to a deciphering of the `quantum enigma', the `crazy way quantum objects behave', to quote R.P. Feynman's words. We posit that the enigma cannot recede without resorting to a thorough questioning of the quantum ontology. In the current paper this questioning is introduced through a revisitation of the famous Schr\"odinger's cat paradox, and of the main attempts at solving it. Our proposal thereof, is that the quantum world enjoys a sound physical reality (complying, in particular, with the scientifc requirement of experimental reproducibility), but also, that this physical reality calls for an enlarged, and however precise notion of `what is real', such that what is real and actual can be distinguished from what is real but potential