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arXiv:1908.04693 · Entropy

The Entropic Dynamics Approach to Quantum Mechanics

Ariel Caticha

Published Sep 26, 2019• 33 citations
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Abstract

Entropic Dynamics (ED) is a framework in which Quantum Mechanics is derived as an application of entropic methods of inference. In ED the dynamics of the probability distribution is driven by entropy subject to constraints that are codified into a quantity later identified as the phase of the wave function. The central challenge is to specify how those constraints are themselves updated. In this paper we review and extend the ED framework in several directions. A new version of ED is introduced in which particles follow smooth differentiable Brownian trajectories (as opposed to non-differentiable Brownian paths). To construct ED we make use of the fact that the space of probabilities and phases has a natural symplectic structure (i.e., it is a phase space with Hamiltonian flows and Poisson brackets). Then, using an argument based on information geometry, a metric structure is introduced. It is shown that the ED that preserves the symplectic and metric structures—which is a Hamilton-Killing flow in phase space—is the linear Schrödinger equation. These developments allow us to discuss why wave functions are complex and the connections between the superposition principle, the single-valuedness of wave functions, and the quantization of electric charges. Finally, it is observed that Hilbert spaces are not necessary ingredients in this construction. They are a clever but merely optional trick that turns out to be convenient for practical calculations.

DOI
10.3390/e21100943

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Entropic Dynamics (ED) is a framework in which Quantum Mechanics is derived as an application of entropic methods of inference. In ED the dynamics of the probability distribution is driven by entropy subject to constraints that are codified into a quantity later identified as the phase of the wave function. The central challenge is to specify how those constraints are themselves updated. In this paper we review and extend the ED framework in several directions. A new version of ED is introduced in which particles follow smooth differentiable Brownian trajectories (as opposed to non-differentiable Brownian paths). To construct ED we make use of the fact that the space of probabilities and phases has a natural symplectic structure (i.e., it is a phase space with Hamiltonian flows and Poisson brackets). Then, using an argument based on information geometry, a metric structure is introduced. It is shown that the ED that preserves the symplectic and metric structures—which is a Hamilton-Killing flow in phase space—is the linear Schrödinger equation. These developments allow us to discuss why wave functions are complex and the connections between the superposition principle, the single-valuedness of wave functions, and the quantization of electric charges. Finally, it is observed that Hilbert spaces are not necessary ingredients in this construction. They are a clever but merely optional trick that turns out to be convenient for practical calculations.
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.
In the Entropic Dynamics (ED) approach the essence of quantum theory lies in its probabilistic nature while the Hilbert space structure plays a secondary and ultimately optional role. The dynamics of probability distributions is driven by the maximization of an entropy subject to constraints that carry the relevant physical information -- directionality, correlations, gauge interactions, etc. The challenge is to identify those constraints and to establish a criterion for how the constraints themselves are updated. In this paper the ED framework is extended to describe a spin-1/2 point particle. In ED spin is neither modelled as a rotating body, nor through the motion of a point particle; it is an epistemic property of the wave function. The constraint that reflects the peculiar rotational properties of spin is most effectively expressed in the language of geometric algebra. The updating of all constraints is carried out in a way that stresses the central importance of symmetry principles. First we identify the appropriate symplectic and metric structures in the phase space of probabilities, their conjugate momenta, and the spin variables. This construction yields a derivation of the Fubini-Study metric for a spin-1/2 particle which highlights its deep connection to information geometry. Then we construct an ED that preserves both the symplectic structure (a Hamiltonian flow) and the metric structure (a Killing flow). We show that generic Hamiltonian-Killing flows are linear in the wave function. Imposing further that the Hamiltonian be the generator of an entropic evolution in time leads to an entropic dynamics described by the Pauli equation. We conclude with a discussion of the new interpretation of the formalism which yields a physical picture that is significantly different from that provided by other interpretations.
Entropic dynamics (ED) is a framework that allows one to derive quantum theory as a Hamilton-Killing flow on the cotangent bundle of a statistical manifold. These flows are such that they preserve the symplectic and the (information) metric geometries; they explain the linearity of quantum mechanics and the appearance of complex numbers. In this paper the ED framework is extended to deal with local gauge symmetries. More specifically, on the basis of maximum entropy methods and information geometry, for an appropriate choice of ontic variables and constraints, we derive the quantum electrodynamics of radiation fields interacting with charged particles. As a test that despite its unorthodox foundation the ED approach is empirically successful we derive the Maxwell equations.
Entropic Dynamics (ED) is a framework that allows one to derive quantum theory as a Hamilton-Killing flow on the cotangent bundle of a statistical manifold. These flows are such that they preserve the symplectic and the metric geometries; they explain the linearity of quantum mechanics and the appearance of complex numbers. In this paper the ED framework is extended to deal with local gauge symmetries. More specifically, on the basis of maximum entropy methods and information geometry, for an appropriate choice of ontic variables and constraints, we derive the quantum dynamics of radiation fields interacting with charged particles.
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.
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.