2005-08-10

More on Quantum Semantics

Some follow-up of the previous post on Quantum Semantics ... While Justin Leavesley keeps hitting the nail in Semantic SuperPositions, I remembered an interesting presentation by Nikita Ogievetsky in Seattle Knowledge Technologies 2002 Conference about Quantum Topic Maps. Googling around for more, I stumbled on a bunch of interesting papers, introducing identification issues raised by Quantum Physics, and some logical or mathematical frameworks able to tackle them.
    From the latter, in the conclusion :
    We have suggested here that quantum objects are vague objects and, further, that how that vagueness is understood depends on the metaphysical package adopted with regard to their individuality. If quantum objects are taken to be individuals, as Lowe considers them, then the vagueness arises because of the existence of relations which do not supervene on monadic properties of the relata; it is because of such relations that we cannot tell which particle is which in an entangled state [...] The alternative package characterises quanta as non-individuals, where this is understood in terms of a lack of identity. [...] There are still some interesting questions to be addressed here, such as how it is that one can refer to objects for which one cannot even say that identity holds.
    Is Information Science, at the dawn of 21st century, at a breaking point similar to the one crossed by Physics a century ago ?

    1 comment:

    1. Dominic Widdows said this:

      "While finishing my PhD I became determined to use mathematics for research in contemporary issues such as language and technology, and I'm fortunate enough to be doing precisely that. Using a variety of geometric models based on graphs and vectors (often called 'multidimensional spaces' to try and sound intimidating: don't be put off, they're just lists of numbers with which you're probably familiar) to analyse and describe the relationships between word distributions and their meanings. Other work with vectors has demonstrated a new link between search engines and the logic behind quantum mechanics."

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