In this paper, I propose a realistic interpretation (RI) of quantum mechanics, that is, an interpretation according to which a particle follows a definite path in spacetime. The path is not deterministic but it is rather a random walk. However, the probability of each step of the walk is found to depend from some average properties of the particle that can be interpreted as its propensity to have a certain macroscopic momentum and energy. The proposed interpretation requires spacetime to be discrete. Prediction of standard quantum mechanics coincide with predictions of large ensembles of particles in the RI.
In this paper, I propose a realistic interpretation (RI) of quantum mechanics, that is, an interpretation according to which a particle follows a definite path in spacetime. The path is not deterministic but it is rather a random walk. However, the probability of each step of the walk is found to depend from some average properties of the particle that can be interpreted as its propensity to have a certain macroscopic momentum and energy. The proposed interpretation requires spacetime to be discrete. Prediction of standard quantum mechanics coincide with predictions of large ensembles of particles in the RI.
This paper presents a simple model that mimics quantum mechanics (QM) results in terms of probability fields of free particles subject to self-interference, without using Schrödinger equation or wavefunctions. Unlike the standard QM picture, the proposed model only uses integer-valued quantities and arithmetic operations. In particular, it assumes a discrete spacetime under the form of an euclidean lattice. The proposed approach describes individual particle trajectories as random walks. Transition probabilities are simple functions of a few quantities that are either randomly associated to the particles during their preparation, or stored in the lattice sites they visit during the walk. Non-relativistic QM predictions, particularly self-interference, are retrieved as probability distributions of similarly-prepared ensembles of particles. Extension to interacting particles is discussed but not detailed in this paper.
In this paper, I explore the feasibility of a realistic interpretation of the quantum mechanical path integral - that is, an interpretation according to which the particle actually follows the paths that contribute to the integral. I argue that an interpretation of this sort requires spacetime to have a branching structure similar to the structures of the branching spacetimes proposed by previous authors. I point out one possible way to construct branching spacetimes of the required sort, and I ask whether the resulting interpretation of quantum mechanics is empirically testable.
This paper presents a simple model that mimics quantum mechanics (QM) results in terms of probability fields of free particles subject to self-interference, without using Schroedinger equation or complex wavefunctions. Unlike the standard QM picture, the proposed model only uses integer-valued quantities and arithmetic operations. In particular, it assumes a discrete spacetime under the form of an euclidean lattice. The proposed approach describes individual particle trajectories as random walks. Transition probabilities are simple functions of a few quantities that are either randomly associated to the particles during their preparation, or stored in the lattice sites they visit during the walk. Non-relativistic QM predictions, particularly selfinterference, are retrieved as probability distributions of similarly-prepared ensembles of particles. Extension to interacting particles is discussed but not detailed in this paper.
A new theorem on random walks suggest some possible revisions of the foundations of Quantum Mechanics. This is presented below in the simplified framework of the description of the evolution of a material point in space. Grossly speaking, it is shown that the probabilities generated by normalizing the square modulus of a sum of probability amplitudes, in the setup of Quantum Mechanics, becomes asymptotically close (under the appropriate limiting conditions) to the probabilities generated by the usual causal processes of Classical Mechanics. This limiting coincidence has a series of interesting potential applications. In particular it allows us to reintroduce the concept of causality within the core of Quantum Mechanics. Moreover, it suggests, among other consequences, that gravitational interaction may not even exist. Even though the interpretations of Quantum Mechanics which follow from this mathematical result may seem to bring some unexpected innovations in the context of theoretical physics, there is an obvious necessity to study its theoretical impact on Quantum Mechanics. The first steps toward this aim are taken in the present article.
We propose a realistic, spacetime interpretation of quantum theory in which reality constitutes a *single* history obeying a "law of motion" that makes definite, but incomplete, predictions about its behavior. We associate a "quantum measure" |S| to the set S of histories, and point out that |S| fulfills a sum rule generalizing that of classical probability theory. We interpret |S| as a "propensity", making this precise by stating a criterion for |S|=0 to imply "preclusion" (meaning that the true history will not lie in S). The criterion involves triads of correlated events, and in application to electron-electron scattering, for example, it yields definite predictions about the electron trajectories themselves, independently of any measuring devices which might or might not be present. (So we can give an objective account of measurements.) Two unfinished aspects of the interpretation involve *conditonal* preclusion (which apparently requires a notion of coarse-graining for its formulation) and the need to "locate spacetime regions in advance" without the aid of a fixed background metric (which can be achieved in the context of conditional preclusion via a construction which makes sense both in continuum gravity and in the discrete setting of causal set theory).
A type of mechanics will be presented that possesses some distinctive properties. On the one hand, its physical description & rules of operation are readily comprehensible & intuitively clear. On the other, it fully satisfies all observable predictions of non-relativistic quantum mechanics. Within it, particles exist at points in space, follow continuous, piecewise differentiable paths, and their linear momentum is equal to their mass times their velocity along their path. Yet the probabilities for position and momentum, conditioned on the state of the particle's environment, follow the rules of quantum theory. Indeed, all observable consequences of quantum theory are satisfied; particles can be entangled, have intrinsic spin, this spin is not local to the particle, particle identity can effect probabilities, and so forth. All the rules of quantum mechanics are obeyed, and all arise in a straightforward fashion. After this is established, connections will be drawn out between this type of mechanics and other types of quantum worlds; those that obey Bohmian mechanics, stochastic mechanics, the many worlds interpretation, and physical collapse. In the final section, a relativistic version of the mechanics will be presented.