Without using the relativity principle, we show how the Dirac equation in three space dimensions emerges from the large-scale dynamics of the minimal nontrivial quantum cellular automaton satisfying unitarity, locality, homogeneity, and discrete isotropy. The Dirac equation is recovered for small wave vector and inertial mass, whereas Lorentz covariance is distorted in the ultrarelativistic limit. The automaton can thus be regarded as a theory unifying scales from Planck to Fermi. A simple asymptotic approach leads to a dispersive Schr\"odinger equation describing the evolution of narrowband states at all scales.
Without using the relativity principle, we show how the Dirac equation in three space dimensions emerges from the large-scale dynamics of the minimal nontrivial quantum cellular automaton satisfying unitarity, locality, homogeneity, and discrete isotropy. The Dirac equation is recovered for small wave vector and inertial mass, whereas Lorentz covariance is distorted in the ultrarelativistic limit. The automaton can thus be regarded as a theory unifying scales from Planck to Fermi. A simple asymptotic approach leads to a dispersive Schr"odinger equation describing the evolution of narrowband states at all scales.
In the present note I will briefly report recent results on the novel field theory based on the information-theoretical paradigm. This program continues the previous one on the axiomatic derivation of quantum theory from information-theoretical principles, of which I presented a note on January 31st 2008. The passage from the quantum theory of abstract systems to the theory of fields is achieved by adding to the axioms of quantum theory new general principles for the network of interation among a denumerable set of quantum systems. Such principles can be synthesized with the requirement of minimal complexity of the quantum algorithm describing the physical law. From general principles such as homogeneity, isotropy, locality, linearity, and unitarity of the interaction network, along with minimal dimension of the field vector, one derives the free quantum field theory, namely Weyl, Dirac, and Maxwell fields. The principles lead to a description in terms of a quantum cellular automaton on the Cayley graph of a group. The advantages of the new theory are numerous. For example the theory tautologically solves all the problems originating from the continuum, such as the ultraviolet divergencies, the localization problem, and causality violations. The mechanics itself is not assumed, but it is a consequence of the principles, and the theory is quantum ab initio, namely it does not need quantization of a classical field theory. Lorentz covariance is not assumed, but follows itself from the principles, in the relativistic limit of small wavevectors. The notion of reference system is restated in terms of irreducible representation of the quantum automaton. Finally, the new theory, derived from purely mathematical principles–whence with adimensional variables–contains itself the units of measure for distance, time, and mass, which are given in terms of extremal values of the variables, which are in principle experimentally detectable. Also effects with GR flavor emerge from the automaton theory, such as an upper bound for the Dirac particle rest-mass (from the unitariety condition), where the dispersion relation becomes completely flat, in strict analogy with the notion of mini black hole.
This paper derives the Dirac equation as the logically forced relativistic completion of the de Broglie wave dynamics established in prior work of this series. Starting from the logical foundation that yields Lorentz/Poincaré invariance, we promote the non-relativistic framework (continuous spacetime, Fourier duality, local plane-wave structures, and probability conservation via statistical energy flux) to the relativistic regime. We show that the requirements of exact local relativistic plane-wave structures (with phase gradients satisfying the mass-shell condition pμpμ=m2c2), first-order time evolution (needed for clean probability conservation), and full Lorentz covariance together force the introduction of a specific non-commuting algebraic structure and a multi-component wave function. The Dirac equation emerges as the unique linear differential operator of order at most one in the spacetime derivatives that consistently glues these local structures across smooth backgrounds while preserving a conserved four-current with positive-definite time component. This multi-component structure arises naturally as the minimal algebraic consequence of the constraints, without any separate postulate for intrinsic angular momentum. In exact analogy with the emergence of the finite invariant causal speed in special relativity, the Dirac dynamics is revealed not as an ad-hoc linearization of the Klein--Gordon equation, but as the mathematically inevitable description of indivisible particles in continuous relativistic spacetime. The derivation thereby completes the single-particle sector of the series, demonstrating that core structures of relativistic quantum mechanics flow deductively from a small number of deep, nearly tautological commitments.
We study the dynamical behavior of a quantum cellular automaton which reproduces the Dirac dynamics in the limit of small wave vectors and masses. We present analytical evaluations along with computer simulations, showing that the automaton exhibits typical Dirac dynamical features, such as the Zitterbewegung and, considering the scattering from potential, the so-called Klein paradox. The motivation is to show concretely how pure processing of quantum information can lead to particle mechanics as an emergent feature, an issue that has been the focus of solid-state, optical, and atomic-physics quantum simulators.
Abstract This paper is the third part of the third volume of the Back-Particle Theory. Building upon the dynamic intrinsic displacements, unified wave equation, and emergence of electromagnetic potentials established in Parts I and II of Volume 3, it systematically completes the geometric interpretation of quantum behavior, the emergent derivation of relativistic structure, and the geometric construction of the Dirac equation. Starting from the enormous degrees of freedom (∼ 10¹⁰⁴) of the back-particle array and its deterministic chaos, we demonstrate that quantum probability is not a fundamental postulate but an inevitable result of finite-information coarse-grained descriptions of the array’s chaotic dynamics, with the Born rule P = |ψ|² interpreted as a statistical expression of the excitation weights of specific vibration modes of the array. Through canonical quantization of the array displacement field, we rigorously derive the uncertainty principle Δx Δp ≥ ℏ_eff/2 and the zero-point fluctuation formula, and derive the decoherence rate Γ_dec ∼ (Θ_env/ℏ_eff)(Δr/d₀)² from the system-environment coupling model. Furthermore, starting from the homogeneous wave equation of the free array and requiring its form invariance under inertial frame transformations, we rigorously derive the Lorentz transformation, proving that the space-time structure of special relativity is a natural emergence of the array’s wave geometry. Based on the second-order classical dynamical equation of intrinsic displacements, we rigorously derive the Dirac equation through operator factorization by introducing the Clifford algebra γ^μ, where the spinor field Ψ is constructed from the intrinsic displacements (d_A, d_f) via symmetry mapping, the mass term ω₀/c originates from the array’s restoration frequency, the spin operator satisfies the SU(2) algebra, and spin 1/2 emerges naturally from the quantization of intrinsic angular momentum. All derivations strictly follow the principles of causal unidirectionality, field superposition, dimensional purity, and parameter emergence, with all parameters emerging in a closed manner from the basic set {A, F, f, f_ext, ρ₀, c} and the lattice geometric factors, achieving a complete logical closed loop from classical array dynamics to quantum mechanics. Keywords: Back-Particle; Emergence of Quantum Probability; Born Rule; Uncertainty Principle; Decoherence; Lorentz Transformation; Dirac Equation; Spinor Field; Spin 1/2; Clifford Algebra; Geometric Quantum Mechanics
The mathematical description of quantum systems univocally identies their nature. In other words we treat a system as quantum if we describe its behaviour adopting Hilbert spaces and structures thereof, as prescribed by the postulates of quantum theory. The choice of using quantum systems as the elementary systems of physics can be justied in terms of informational principles, thanks to results of the last decade. Such results come as the conclusion of a research program that lasted almost one century, with the aim of reformulating quantum theory in terms of operational principles. This achievement now poses a new challenge, that we face here. If the systems of quantum theory are thought of as elementary information carriers in the rst place, rather than elementary constituents of matter, and their connections are logical connections within a given algorithm, rather than space-time relations, then we need to nd the origin of mechanical concepts—that characterise quantum mechanics as a theory of physical systems. To this end,we will illustrate howphysical laws can be viewed as algorithms for the update of memory registers that make a physical system. Imposing the characteristic properties of physical laws to such an algorithm, i.e. homogeneity, reversibility and isotropy, we will show that the physical laws thus selected are particular algorithms known as cellular automata. Further assumptions regarding maximal simplicity of the algorithm lead to two cellular automata only, that in a suitable regime can be described by Weyl’s dierential equations, lying at the basis of the dynamics of relativistic quantum elds. We will nally discuss how the same cellular automaton can give rise to both Fermionic eld dynamics and to Maxwell’s equations, that rule the dynamics of the electromagnetic eld. We will conclude reviewing the discussion of the relativity principle, that must be suitably adapted to the scenario where space-time is not an elementary notion, through the denition of a change of inertial reference frame, and whose formulation leads to the recovery of the symmetry of Minkowski space-time, identied with Poincar´e’s group. Space-time thus emerges as one of the manifestations of physical laws, rather than the background where they occur, and its features are determined by the dynamics of systems, necessarily equipped with dierential equations that express it. In brief, there is no space-time unless an evolution rule requires it.
We show that the Dirac quantum cellular automaton [A. Bisio, G. M. D'Ariano, and A. Tosini, Ann. Phys. (N.Y.) 354, 244 (2015)] shares many properties in common with the discrete-time quantum walk. These similarities can be exploited to study the automaton as a unitary process that takes place at regular time steps on a one-dimensional lattice, in the spirit of general quantum cellular automata. In this way, it becomes an alternative to the quantum walk, with a dispersion relation that can be controlled by a parameter that plays a similar role to the coin angle in the quantum walk. The Dirac Hamiltonian is recovered under a suitable limit. We provide two independent analytical approximations to the long-term probability distribution. It is shown that, starting from localized conditions, the asymptotic value of the entropy of entanglement between internal and motional degrees of freedom overcomes the known limit that is approached by the quantum walk for the same initial conditions and is similar to the ones achieved by highly localized states of the Dirac equation.