David Wallace (University of Southern California)
Most interpretative work on quantum theory assumes not just that a quantum system is isolated but that it is the entire Universe. Likewise for a large part of the philosophical literature on the direction of time in statistical mechanics. All this goes radically beyond what the empirical success of quantum mechanics justifies. So how should we approach these foundational questions in the realistic contexts where the systems to which quantum theory are applied cannot realistically be treated as isolated, especially given the ubiquity of decoherence. I'll offer some provisional answers and raise some continuing puzzles.
