According to the no-signaling theorem, the nonlocal collapse of the wavefunction of an entangled particle by the measurement on its twin particle at a remote location cannot be used to send useful information. Given that experiments on nonlocal correlations continue to have loopholes, we propose a stronger principle that the nonlocality of quantum mechanics itself is veiled. In practical terms, decoherence and noise compels us to view the wavefunction as representing knowledge of potential outcomes rather than the reality. Experimental evidence in favor of naked nonlocality would support the view of the wavefunction as an objective description of physical reality.
According to the no-signaling theorem, the nonlocal collapse of the wavefunction of an entangled particle by the measurement on its twin particle at a remote location cannot be used to send useful information. Given that experiments on nonlocal correlations continue to have loopholes, we propose a stronger principle that the nonlocality of quantum mechanics itself is veiled. In practical terms, decoherence and noise compels us to view the wavefunction as representing knowledge of potential outcomes rather than the reality. Experimental evidence in favor of naked nonlocality would support the view of the wavefunction as an objective description of physical reality.
I have been arguing that quantum nonlocality, deeply entrenched in the present formalism of quantum mechanics and widely believed as a reality by physicists, is in fact absent. Spooky nonlocal state reduction is the most, and perhaps the only irrational feature of present day physics. There are experimental results that reject nonlocal state reduction at a distance. Also, there are arguments that show that signal locality itself can be violated if there is true nonlocal collapse of the wavefunction. The Bell's inequalities, the violation of which polarized physicists in favour of nonlocality, arise not due to nonlocality, but due to ignoring prior information on correlations encoded in the phase of local probability amplitudes. Here I discuss an experiment involving particles entangled in energy and time variables that shows that there is no nonlocal state reduction during measurements on entangled particles. Quantum mechanics is inconsistent if it includes the concept of wavefunction collapse as a physical process for entangled multi-particle systems.
Despite its remarkable success in describing microscopic phenomena, quantum mechanics continues to pose unresolved foundational questions concerning measurement, nonlocality, wavefunction collapse, and the nature of physical reality. These issues were highlighted by the EPR paradox. Quantum mechanics predicts that measuring one particle’s observable instantaneously determines the state of the other, seemingly violating special relativity’s prohibition of faster-than-light influences and suggesting an incomplete description of physical reality. However, Bell’s theorem has largely ruled out local hidden variable theories. In this paper, I critically examine the assumptions in deriving Bell’s theorem and demonstrate that the theorem does not apply strictly to quantum mechanics. By assuming measurement is always accompanied by uncontrollable environment interactions, I show that quantum theory can be local and realism with decoherence in EPR-like measurement. Specifically, I apply the quantum decoherence framework, pioneered by Zeh, Zurek and Leggett to analyze an EPR-like system using system-environment interactions as a measurement model. The results illustrate that measurement on one entangled particle does not instantaneously collapse the system's wavefunction. Instead, the local wavefunctions of the measured particle and its environment evolve dynamically, while the remote particle’s wavefunction remains unchanged. Environment-induced decoherence selects pointer states and rapidly suppresses quantum correlations through strictly local interactions, giving rise to the appearance of wavefunction collapse. These findings challenge the conventional interpretation of Bell’s theorem and suggest that quantum mechanics fundamentally respects locality and realism if the wavefunction is treated as an ontic entity. This work offers a potential path toward a locally realistic quantum theory in alignment with Einstein’s vision. It not only strengthens the conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics, but also carries tremendous implications for quantum information processing and computing.
Our sense of reality is different from its mathematical basis as given by physical theories. Although nature at its deepest level is quantum mechanical and nonlocal, it appears to our minds in everyday experience as local and classical. Since the same laws should govern all phenomena, we propose this difference in the nature of perceived reality is due to the principle of veiled nonlocality that is associated with consciousness. Veiled nonlocality allows consciousness to operate and present what we experience as objective reality. In other words, this principle allows us to consider consciousness indirectly, in terms of how consciousness operates. We consider different theoretical models commonly used in physics and neuroscience to describe veiled nonlocality. Furthermore, if consciousness as an entity leaves a physical trace, then laboratory searches for such a trace should be sought for in nonlocality, where probabilities do not conform to local expectations.
The standard interpretation of quantum measurement on entangled systems holds that measuring one particle nonlocally collapses the wavefunction of its spacelike-separated partner. We argue that this conclusion rests on a false presupposition: that subsystems of entangled systems possess independent ontic states. If the global wavefunction is the sole ontic object (ψ-ontic holism), then for entangled systems, there is no "state of B" to be affected by measurement at A. Measurement is a local dynamical process-concretely modeled by continuous spontaneous localization-that destroys one local wavefunction component at the measurement site; the global state factorizes as a consequence, and subsystem ontology emerges for the first time. The transition of the distant particle's reduced density matrix from mixed to pure reflects this emergence of separability, not a physical change at the distant location. The framework satisfies no-signaling and embraces the contextuality required by the Kochen-Specker and GHZ theorems. We are explicit about its relation to Bell's theorem: Bell local causality (factorizability) fails, as it must in any empirically adequate theory, but the failure is confined to outcome independence and is identified with the nonseparability of the global ontic state, while parameter independence-and with it the locality of the dynamics-holds exactly. Decoherence provides the mechanism by which the global wavefunction factorizes and classical separability emerges. The apparent nonlocality of quantum mechanics is thus reinterpreted as nonseparability: the fundamental ontology is holistic, but the dynamics are local.
Despite its remarkable success in describing microscopic phenomena, quantum mechanics continues to pose unresolved foundational questions concerning measurement, nonlocality, wavefunction collapse, and the nature of physical reality. These issues were highlighted by the EPR paradox1-2, in which Einstein and his co-authors examined the measurement of entangled particles in space-like separation. Quantum mechanics predicts that measuring one particle’s observable instantaneously determines the state of the other, seemingly violating special relativity’s prohibition of faster-than-light influences and suggesting an incomplete description of physical reality. However, Bell’s theorem3-5, along with the Bell-Kochen-Specker theorem6-10 and subsequent experiments, has largely ruled out local hidden variable theories. In this work, I apply the quantum decoherence framework11-13, pioneered by Zeh, Zurek, Joos and Leggett et al. to analyze an EPR-like system using system-environment interactions as a measurement model. I demonstrate that measurement on one entangled particle does not instantaneously collapse the system's wavefunction. Instead, the local wavefunctions of the measured particle and its environment evolve dynamically, while the remote particle’s wavefunction remains unchanged. Environment-induced decoherence selects pointer states and rapidly suppresses quantum correlations through local interactions, giving rise to the appearance of wavefunction collapse. These findings suggest that quantum mechanics can be reconciled with local realism if the wavefunction is treated as an ontic entity, offering a potential path toward a locally realistic quantum theory in alignment with Einstein’s vision.
The standard interpretation of quantum measurement on entangled systems holds that measuring one particle nonlocally collapses the wavefunction of its spacelike-separated partner. We argue that this conclusion rests on a false presupposition: that subsystems of entangled systems possess independent ontic states. If the global wavefunction is the sole ontic object (ψ-ontic holism), then for entangled systems there is no “state of B” to be affected by measurement at A. The reduced density matrix of a subsystem, while operationally useful, is not ontologically real for non-factorizable states. Measurement is a local dynamical process — concretely modeled by continuous spontaneous localization (CSL) — that destroys one local wavefunction component at the measurement site. The global state factorizes as a consequence, and subsystem ontology emerges for the first time. The transition of the distant particle’s reduced density matrix from mixed to pure reflects this emergence of separability, not a physical change at the distant location. We show that this framework is consistent with no-signaling, with the contextuality required by the Kochen–Specker and GHZ theorems, and with the local measurement axiom (Postulate M) proposed in a companion paper. Bell’s theorem does not force nonlocality upon our framework because it presupposes outcome determinism — the assignment of definite values to observables prior to measurement — which several quantum mechanical theorems and our ψ-ontic ontology explicitly deny. Decoherence, which is ubiquitous in nature, provides the mechanism by which the global wavefunction factorizes and classical separability emerges. The apparent nonlocality of quantum mechanics is thus reinterpreted as nonseparability: the fundamental ontology is holistic, but the dynamics are local.