Quantum Discreteness is an Illusion

Gerald E. Marsh

J. Byrne

Kristel F. L. Michielsen, Th. Lippert, Hans A. De Raedt

We provide a mystery-free explanation for the experimentally observed facts in the neutron interferometry quantum Cheshire cat experiment of Denkmayr et al. [Nat. Comm. 5, 4492, 2014] in terms of a discrete-event simulation model, demonstrating that the quantum Cheshire cat is an illusion.

Scott Aaronson

David Shale

Mike Stannett

Andreka and her colleagues have described various geometrically inspired first-order theories of special and general relativity, while Szekely's PhD dissertation focuses on an intermediate logic of accelerated observers. In this paper we will attempt to incorporate a model of quantum theoretical trajectories that can reasonably claim to be physically meaningful into those theories. We have recently shown that a model of quantum trajectories, based on discrete finitary motion, is logically equivalent to Feynman's path-integral formulation when spacetime is assumed to be Euclidean. In this paper we argue that relativistic observers are subject to the same quantum illusions as in the Euclidean case: even though motion is discrete and respects no built-in 'arrow of time', observers have no choice but to perceive particle trajectories as continuous paths in spacetime. Whereas the relativistic theories presuppose continuous paths as part of their axioms, the illusion of continuity allows us to replace this axiom with a lower-level quantum-inspired axiom concerning discrete jumps in spacetime. We investigate the nature of these jumps, and how far they can be tied to the underlying geometric structure of spacetime. In particular, we consider hops which preserve features of the underlying number field, and investigate the extent to which all hops can be restricted to be of this form. We conclude that hop-based motion can also be regarded as an illusion, one caused by modelling physics in the 'wrong' number system.