SwissMAP Logo
Log in
  • About us
    • Organization
    • Professors
    • Senior Researchers
    • Postdocs
    • PhD Students
    • Alumni
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events
    • Online Events
    • Videos
    • Newsletters
    • Press Coverage
    • Perspectives Journal
    • Interviews
  • Research
    • Basic Notions
    • Phase III Directions
    • Phases I & II Projects
    • Publications
    • SwissMAP Research Station
  • Awards, Visitors & Vacancies
    • Awards
    • Innovator Prize
    • Visitors
    • Vacancies
  • Outreach & Education
    • Masterclasses & Doctoral Schools
    • Mathscope
    • Maths Club
    • Athena Project
    • ETH Math Youth Academy
    • SPRING
    • Junior Euler Society
    • General Relativity for High School Students
    • Outreach Resources
    • Exhibitions
    • Previous Programs
    • Events in Outreach
    • News in Outreach
  • Equal Opportunities
    • Mentoring Program
    • Financial Support
    • SwissMAP Scholars
    • Events in Equal Opportunities
    • News in Equal Opportunities
  • Contact
    • Corporate Design
  • Basic Notions
  • Phase III Directions
  • Phases I & II Projects
  • Publications
  • SwissMAP Research Station

Indeterminism in Physics and Intuitionistic Mathematics

Nicolas Gisin

3/9/21 Published in : Synthese (2021)

Most physics theories are deterministic, with the notable exception of quantum mechanics which, however, comes plagued by the so-called measurement problem. This state of affairs might well be due to the inability of standard mathematics to "speak" of indeterminism, its inability to present us a worldview in which new information is created as time passes. In such a case, scientific determinism would only be an illusion due to the timeless mathematical language scientists use. To investigate this possibility it is necessary to develop an alternative mathematical language that is both powerful enough to allow scientists to compute predictions and compatible with indeterminism and the passage of time. We argue that intuitionistic mathematics provides such a language and we illustrate it in simple terms.

Entire article ArXiv

Phase I & II research project(s)

  • Quantum Systems

The power of quantum neural networks

Canonical Cauchy sequences for real numbers

  • Leading house

  • Co-leading house


The National Centres of Competence in Research (NCCRs) are a funding scheme of the Swiss National Science Foundation

© SwissMAP 2025 - All rights reserved