Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?
1935 · paper · Physics
Examines whether the quantum-mechanical wave function gives a complete description of physical reality. Using a criterion for elements of reality and measurements on two previously interacting systems, concludes that the description by a wave function is not complete.
Checked: PDF from web.archive.org, fetched 5 Oct 2026. Page numbers are those of that PDF.
1 finding
Wording After Eq. (6), "P(a, b) = ... = b−a", the text says "Since this probability is independent of a, but depends only upon the difference b−a"; read literally, b−a is a function of a, so the sentence is loosely worded (it means the probability is independent of the interval's position and depends only on its length).
- p. 2 Section 1, Eq. (6), right column
dx=b−a.
- p. 2 Section 1, sentence immediately after Eq. (6)
Since this probability is independent of a, but depends only upon the difference b−a
Judge's note: Viewed the crop and the full page 2 image. Eq. (6) and the following sentence read exactly as quoted. P(a,b) = b−a does depend on a at fixed b; it is unchanged only when a and b are shifted together. The intended meaning (translation invariance, hence all coordinate values equally probable) is evident and the conclusion drawn is unaffected, so this is a wording imprecision only. No other passage in the article redefines a or qualifies the statement. Kept as an observation because the intended reading is clear and no correction of substance is needed.
Second check: another model agreed