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arXiv:1412.5637 · AIP conference proceedings

Entropic quantization of scalar fields

Selman Ipek, Ariel Caticha

Published Jan 1, 2015• 19 citations
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Abstract

Entropic Dynamics is an information-based framework that seeks to derive the laws of physics as an application of the methods of entropic inference. The dynamics is derived by maximizing an entropy subject to constraints that represent the physically relevant information that the motion is continuous and non-dissipative. Here we focus on the quantum theory of scalar fields. We provide an entropic derivation of Hamiltonian dynamics and using concepts from information geometry derive the standard quantum field theory in the Schrödinger representation.

DOI
10.1063/1.4905997

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Entropic Dynamics is an information-based framework that seeks to derive the laws of physics as an application of the methods of entropic inference. The dynamics is derived by maximizing an entropy subject to constraints that represent the physically relevant information that the motion is continuous and non-dissipative. Here we focus on the quantum theory of scalar fields. We provide an entropic derivation of Hamiltonian dynamics and using concepts from information geometry derive the standard quantum field theory in the Schrödinger representation.
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Entropic Dynamics is a framework in which quantum theory is derived as an application of entropic methods of inference. There is no underlying action principle. Instead, the dynamics is driven by entropy subject to the appropriate constraints. In this paper we show how a Hamiltonian dynamics arises as a type of non-dissipative entropic dynamics. We also show that the particular form of the "quantum potential" that leads to the Schroedinger equation follows naturally from information geometry.
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Entropic Dynamics is a framework in which dynamical laws such as those that arise in physics are derived as an application of entropic methods of inference. No underlying action principle is postulated. Instead, the dynamics is driven by entropy subject to constraints reflecting the information that is relevant to the problem at hand. In this work I review the derivation of quantum theory but the fact that Entropic Dynamics is based on inference methods that are of universal applicability suggests that it may be possible to adapt these methods to fields other than physics.
Abstract Entropic Dynamics (ED) is a framework in which Quantum Mechanics (QM) is derived as an application of entropic methods of inference. The magnitude of the wave function is manifestly epistemic: its square is a probability distribution. The epistemic nature of the phase of the wave function is also clear: it controls the flow of probability. The dynamics is driven by entropy subject to constraints that capture the relevant physical information. The central concern is to identify those constraints and how they are updated. After reviewing previous work I describe how considerations from information geometry allow us to derive a phase space geometry that combines Riemannian, symplectic, and complex structures. The ED that preserves these structures is QM. The full equivalence between ED and QM is achieved by taking account of how gauge symmetry and charge quantization are intimately related to quantum phases and the single‐valuedness of wave functions.
Entropic Dynamics (ED) provides a statistical-inferential foundation for physical laws, deriving motion and field equations from principles of entropy maximization rather than quantization postulates. ED reconstructs quantum mechanics by treating the evolution of probability distributions on configuration space as driven by information constraints, yielding the Schrodinger equation as a non-dissipative diffusion process. Building on this foundation, the present work extends the ED framework into a Unified Entropic Dynamics (UED) formulation that encompasses classical, quantum, relativistic, thermodynamic, and gravitational phenomena within a single information geometric principle. By maximizing entropy subject to constraints on diffusion, drift, and gauge covariance over a manifold endowed with a supermetric H_ab, we derive a universal field equation that merges the Fokker-Planck and Hamilton-Jacobi structures into one covariant form. When specialized to different dynamical variables, this equation reproduces the harmonic oscillator, Schrodinger, Maxwell, Klein-Gordon, and gravitational wave equations, thereby revealing a deep equivalence between probabilistic inference and dynamical law. The UED framework demonstrates that spacetime geometry, quantum coherence and thermodynamic diffusion emerge as complementary expressions of the same entropic process, establishing a unified inferential foundation for both microscopic and macroscopic physics. In this formulation, energy, probability, and entropy are intertwined aspects of information geometry, providing a consistent inferential foundation for understanding classical, quantum, and gravitational dynamics as complementary expressions of a single entropic law.