"Philosophysics" at the University of Vienna: The (pre-)history of foundations of quantum physics in the Viennese cultural context

TL;DR

This paper explores the historical development of quantum physics foundations in Vienna, emphasizing the deep-rooted connection between physics and philosophy that contributed to Vienna's prominent role in this research area.

Contribution

It reconstructs Vienna's historical trajectory in quantum foundations, highlighting the cultural and philosophical influences beyond just Schrödinger and Zeilinger.

Findings

Vienna's strong physics-philosophy link fostered quantum foundations research

Historical development predates recent influential figures

Vienna's cultural context uniquely supported quantum physics advancements

Abstract

Vienna today is one of the capitals for the research on foundations of quantum physics. In this paper we reconstruct the main historical steps of the development of modern physics in Vienna, with an emphasis on quantum foundations. We show that the two main intuitive reasons, namely the influence of E. Schr\"odinger and the initiatives of A. Zeilinger in more recent years, cannot alone be held accountable for today's outstanding research landscape on foundation of quantum mechanics in Vienna. We instead show that the connection between physics and philosophy in Vienna always had an exceptional strength, and that this played a major role in establishing the prolific field of quantum foundations.