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arXiv:1010.5263

The quantum vacuum: an interpretation of quantum mechanics

Eduardo V. Flores

Published Oct 21, 2010• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We assume that particles are point-like objects even when not observed. We report on the consequences of our assumption within the realm of quantum theory. An important consequence is the necessity of vacuum fields to account for particle dynamics. The zero-point energy is evidence of the reality of vacuum fields. The dynamics of vacuum fields depends on wave equations, boundary conditions and external sources. The wavefunction is an expression of vacuum fields. Particle events are described by probabilistic distribution functions obtained from vacuum fields. We solve the measurement problem by noticing that in our model the wavefunction does not collapse.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1010.5263

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We assume that particles are point-like objects even when not observed. We report on the consequences of our assumption within the realm of quantum theory. An important consequence is the necessity of vacuum fields to account for particle dynamics. The zero-point energy is evidence of the reality of vacuum fields. The dynamics of vacuum fields depends on wave equations, boundary conditions and external sources. The wavefunction is an expression of vacuum fields. Particle events are described by probabilistic distribution functions obtained from vacuum fields. We solve the measurement problem by noticing that in our model the wavefunction does not collapse.
The quantum field of a single particle is expressed as the sum of the particle's ordinary wave function and the vacuum fluctuations. An exact quantum-field calculation shows that the squared amplitude of this field sums, at any time, to a delta function representing a discrete corpuscle at one point and zero everywhere else. The peak of the delta function is located at the point where the vacuum fluctuations interfere constructively with the ordinary wave function. Similarly, the collapsed wave function after a measurement of an observable is determined by interference between the initial wave function and vacuum fluctuations.
The measurement problem in quantum mechanics has been a cause of much puzzlement over the years. The very idea of having two different versions of reality for the same system has been a cause for much debate. Often quantum mechanics textbooks follow the ‘shut up and calculate’ paradigm. This denies the opportunity for the common student to understand the consequence of one of the most elegant and beautiful aspects of science. The state of the art textbooks give a purely algebraic, perfunctory and monotonous approach where the real consequence of the system is not fully appreciated. A good reason for this is the considerable deviation of the quantum mechanical process from the commonsensical idea of truth, reality and reason. We tend to look at the world in a materialistic, deterministic, causal and objectivistic way. We tend not to accept a world of contradictions. A quantum measurement is essentially an amalgamation of contradictions, mystery and duality. It encompasses an implicit dependence on subjectivity and contradicts with causality as we know it. We look at the world as in the present. But a quantum mechanical measurement is a prediction of the future influenced by the observer or the measurer. This offers a philosophical and pedagogical conundrum. It poses a challenge on not just how our perception of the world might change in addition to providing a big challenge on how to make it compatible with the other successful theories of physics. The most common text book interpretation of quantum mechanics has been the Copenhagen Interpretation suggests the ‘collapse of the wave function’ as a mechanism of transition between duality. But a more bizarre yet elegant theory, extending quantum formalism to the classical domain, called the Many Worlds Interpretation has been catching up very quickly; it stands for the split of the universe when we make a quantum mechanical measurement. Consequently, reality as we is redefined as a universal wave function which is a superposition of several outcomes, which is incompatible with many of the successful concepts of physics and has several problems like the correct idea about probability or basis. We adapt the idea of the universal wave function, but instead suggest a continuum interpretation of quantum mechanics where the universal wave function represents the entire singular universe and the concept of atoms or electrons as conceptually a continuous part of it rather than a distinct separate entity. Such an interpretation could be compatible with other continuum theories like the Superfluid vacuum theory or the Higgs Field.
Abstract Mass has never been defined. It has been measured, related to other quantities, and given a mechanism through the Higgs field. But what mass physically is has not been stated. This paper proposes a definition: mass is the information encoding that matter acquires from the field — the degree to which a state is distinguishable from the vacuum, measured in Shannon bits. From this single definition, without additional assumptions, three consequences follow. First, the Schrödinger equation becomes nonlinear: mass depends on the wavefunction itself, superposition is approximate for massive particles, and wavefunction collapse has a self-reinforcing mechanism without requiring an external observer. Second, the source of spacetime curvature in Einstein’s field equations is not mass but information content — distinguishability of matter from the vacuum. Third, the quantum-classical transition is not a boundary to be explained but a process driven by mass accumulation: as encoding increases, classicality follows automatically. The Higgs vacuum expectation value v = 246 GeV is identified as the conversion factor between bits of distinguishability and kilograms of mass. The photon and neutrino are natural consistency checks: the photon has zero encoding and zero mass; the neutrino has near-zero encoding and near-zero mass
Chapter 1 begins by introducing the quantum world as part of the physical world, not in opposition to or separate from the classical world. It then introduces the basic tools needed to work with quantum mechanics, and describes the scope and purpose of this textbook. It discusses how despite its successes, current quantum mechanics lacks adequate explanations for important observed atomic properties, suggesting an incompleteness of the theory. After a brief overview of its main interpretative issues , the chapter concludes with an introduction of the vacuum or zero-point field as the physical element that restores causality and serves to complete the quantum picture by providing a causal explanation of characteristic quantum phenomena.
The measurement problem and the subsequent collapse of the wave function remain the most philosophically contentious aspects of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, notoriously requiring an active, conscious observer to define reality. We propose a deterministic, fluid-dynamic resolution derived from the Null-Vector Gravity (NVG) framework, wherein the quantum vacuum is treated not as empty space, but as a macroscopic, non-perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) condensate. In this model, an elementary particle such as an electron is not a point-mass governed by abstract probability amplitudes, but a stable topological defect—a localized displacement within the vacuum conformal structure. Prior to interaction, this defect propagates as a spatially extended solitary wave. We demonstrate mathematically that what is conventionally termed wave function collapse is the onset of a purely deterministic topological reconnection event. When the extended wave envelope encounters a macroscopic density gradient (e.g., the lattice of a detector screen), the vacuum displacement vectors undergo rapid non-linear contraction, snapping the delocalized energy back into a localized, point-like topological knot. This fluid-dynamic mechanism entirely eliminates the need for wave-particle duality and the observer effect, restoring objective realism to quantum mechanics while fully preserving the empirical interference patterns predicted by the Schrödinger equation.