Prof. Dr. Näger
Universität Münster

Are entangled quantum systems undivided wholes? The mereological problem of entanglement

The discipline of mereology treats the question how parts and wholes relate and is made precise by a formalism called classical mereology. According to the established view, entangled quantum systems are an anomaly since they are well-known to involve some kind of holism in the sense that the quantum state of the whole cannot be reduced to the quantum state of the parts. Are entangled systems undivided wholes?

In this talk I shall argue on the basis of the quantum mechanical formalism that they are not: When two objects are entangled, there are only these objects but no whole, and the holistic entangled property is carried collectively by these objects.

Näger, P.M. (2021). The mereological problem of entanglement.
https://philarchive.org/rec/NGETMP