Abstract
Probability has been a part of quantum theory from its very beginnings. The original probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics was put forward by Max Born. However the idea that the understanding of Nature had to be statistical was unacceptable to a lot of people including Einstein, and there was substantial criticism of this aspect of quantum theory. Eventually, the ideas of von Neumann, Bell, Feynman, Mackey, Glea- son, and many others on the probabilistic aspects of quantum theory clarified the situation and answered the criticisms. These contributions have made the role of probability in the quantum world both far-reaching and profound.
This essay and the previous one are based on lectures given at Howard University, Washington D.C., sponsored by my friend D. Sundararaman, in the 1990s.
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Varadarajan, V.S. (2011). Probability in the quantum world. In: Reflections on Quanta, Symmetries, and Supersymmetries. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0667-0_3
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