Genesis of Karl Popper's EPR-like experiment and its resonance amongst the physics community in the 1980s

• Published in: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 2018-05, Vol.62, p.56-70
• Main Author: Del Santo, Flavio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Experimental falsification of Copenhagen interpretation; Foundations of quantum mechanics; Karl Popper's contribution to physics; Popper's unpublished materials; Role of Popper in the physics community; Variant of the EPR experiment
• ISSN: 1355-2198; 1879-2502
• DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsb.2017.06.001

I present the reconstruction of the involvement of Karl Popper in the community of physicists concerned with foundations of quantum mechanics, in the 1980s. At that time Popper gave active contribution to the research in physics, of which the most significant is a new version of the EPR thought experiment, alleged to test different interpretations of quantum mechanics. The genesis of such an experiment is reconstructed in detail, and an unpublished letter by Popper is reproduced in the present paper to show that he formulated his thought experiment already two years before its first publication in 1982. The debate stimulated by the proposed experiment as well as Popper's role in the physics community throughout 1980s is here analysed in detail by means of personal correspondence and publications. •Karl Popper gave active contributions to research in physics.•He proposed an experiment to falsify the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics.•The experiment was formulate two years before its first publications.•Popper became an effective member of the scientific community in the 1980s.