Introduction

Abstract

The foundations of Quantum Mechanics are experiencing a golden age. In a timespan of less than two decades, an astonishing number of new results, ideas, and frameworks have revolutionized the way we think about the subject. A new research community is emerging worldwide, attracting scientists from a diverse spectrum of disciplines including physics, computer science, and mathematics. The keyword “foundations” is now included in the strategic priorities of many research institutions and funding agencies, and it regularly features as one of the hot topics in international conferences. The abundance of ideas, approaches, and resources that have emerged poses some challenges however. For one, having a global vision of the field and reflecting on its high level goals is becoming increasingly difficult. For another, the sheer number of different frameworks that have been put forward risks creating a tower of Babel effect, fragmenting the community into smaller cliques that are unable to talk to one another. In addition, researchers who are joining the field have to cope with a fast-moving landscape where it can be hard to identify stable reference points. These considerations led us to the project of this book, which aims to showcase the state of the art in quantum foundations. The book provides a collection of articles that deal with influential ideas in the field today, revealing the diversity of approaches on the one hand, and highlighting the common threads among them on the other.