Does the Wave Function Provide a Complete Description of Physical Reality?

Abstract

This is the introduction to the section on Quantum Mechanics in the centennial collection of noteworthy articles appearing in The Physical Review and Physical Review Letters through 1983, since it all began in 1893. The selections for this section are "Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?" by Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen; Bohr's response, with the same title; Bohm's first hidden variables paper: "A Suggested Interpretation of the Quantum Theory in Terms of `Hidden' Variables. I"; Aharonov and Bohm's "Significance of Electromagnetic Potentials in the Quantum Theory"; and "Experimental Test of Bell's Inequalities Using Time-Varying Analyzers" by Aspect, Dalibard and Roger.