History and Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics III: Semiclassical Approach

Abstract

For an intermediate region between the microscopic and the macroscopic domain, the semi-classical method is the standard approach in which quantum mechanical variables are mixed with classical variables in a frame of classical models. However, this semi-classical approach seems to have some fundamental conceptual difficulties due to the incommensurability of the physical variables from classical and quantum mechanics. Furthermore, semi-classical hybrid models are rather fixed in their physical scale of application; they cannot be easily scaled up or down to emphasize or favor either classical or quantum elements. Thus, these hybrid models lack internal flexibility of adjusting their domains of application.