The John Stewart Bell reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

John Stewart Bell

John Stewart Bell (June 28 1928 - October 1 1990) was an Irish physicist.

Bell was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

In 1964 he derived an inequality that must be satisfied for there to be a local hidden-variable theory of quantum mechanics. He showed that von Neumann’s proof against deterministic quantum mechanics lacked rigor and that Bohm’s work got around von Neumann’s objections through the use of supraluminal signaling. In 1967 the first of many experiments showing a violation of Bell's Inequality was conducted, sealing the fate of local hidden-variable theories. Bell's Theorem thus became regarded a proof that the underlying theory of the universe must be a quantum-mechanical one. For more on the history and physics of Bell's theorem, see the articles on Bell's Inequality and the EPR Paradox.

Bell became a supporter of the Bohm interpretation, a nonlocal hidden-variable theory involving supraluminal signaling, calling its suppression a "scandal" within physics, and took to defending his work against those whom he perceived as distorting its meaning to favor indeterministic quantum mechanics such as the Copenhagen and Everett "many-worlds interpretations.

He died in Belfast.

See also:

• Bell's theorem
• EPR paradox
• CHSH inequality
• GHZ experiment
• Quantum entanglement

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