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arXiv:2602.04633 · Physical Review A

On the emergence of classical stochasticity

Xuan Du Trinh, Ismaël Septembre, Hai-Chau Nguyen

quant-phSubmitted Feb 4, 2026• Announced Feb 5, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

We examine the logical structure of the emergence of classical stochasticity for a quantum system governed by a Pauli-type master equation. It is well-known that while such equations describe the evolution of probabilities, they do not automatically justify classical reasoning based on the assumption that the system exists in a definite state at intermediate times. On the other hand, we show that this assumption is crucial for the standard calculation of stochastic times such as the persistent time and the time of first arrivals. We then consider examples of single particles, bosons, and fermions in the so-called ultradecoherence limit to illustrate how classical stochasticity may emerge from quantum mechanics.

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We examine the logical structure of the emergence of classical stochasticity for a quantum system governed by a Pauli-type master equation. It is well-known that while such equations describe the evolution of probabilities, they do not automatically justify classical reasoning based on the assumption that the system exists in a definite state at intermediate times. On the other hand, we show that this assumption is crucial for the standard calculation of stochastic times such as the persistent time and the time of first arrivals. We then consider examples of single particles, bosons, and fermions in the so-called ultradecoherence limit to illustrate how classical stochasticity may emerge from quantum mechanics.
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The conceptual setting of quantum mechanics is subject to an ongoing debate from its beginnings until now. The consequences of the apparent differences between quantum statistics and classical statistics range from the philosophical interpretations to practical issues as quantum computing. In this note we demonstrate how quantum mechanics can emerge from classical statistical systems. We discuss conditions and circumstances for this to happen. Quantum systems describe isolated subsystems of classical statistical systems with infinitely many states. While infinitely many classical observables "measure" properties of the subsystem and its environment, the state of the subsystem can be characterized by the expectation values of only a few probabilistic observables. They define a density matrix, and all the usual laws of quantum mechanics follow. No concepts beyond classical statistics are needed for quantum physics – the differences are only apparent and result from the particularities of those classical statistical systems which admit a quantum mechanical description. In particular, we show how the non-commuting properties of quantum operators are associated to the use of conditiona probabilities within the classical system, and how a unitary time evolution reflects the isolation of the subsystem.
We consider the classical dynamics of bosonic and fermionic matrix variables in complex Hilbert space, defined by a trace action, assuming cyclic invariance under the trace and the presence of a global unitary invariance. With plausible and explicitly stated assumptions, including the existence of a large hierarchy of scale between the underlying dynamics and observed physics, we show that (1) the equilibrium statistical mechanics of this matrix dynamics, in the canonical ensemble, gives rise to an emergent quantum mechanics for many degrees of freedom, including the standard canonical commutation/anticommutation relations and the usual unitary Heisenberg and Schrödinger picture time evolutions of operators and states, and (2) the fluctuation or Brownian motion corrections to this thermodyamics lead to an energy-driven stochastic modification of the Schrödinger equation, which is known to imply state vector reduction with Born rule probabilities. Thus, quantum mechanics and its probabilistic interpretation both arise as emergent phenomena in the underlying trace dynamics.
Introduction. There exists a very comprehensive theory concerning the time development of probabilistic systems. This is the Theory of Stochastic processes (1). Quantum mechanics as described by the Schrödinger equation rests very heavily on probabilistic interpretation, and yet, after forty years of remarkably rapid advances and successes, it is not clear how it is related to stochastic theory. The formal similarity of certain aspects of, and equations used in these two theories are well known. The diffusion equation corresponds to the Schrödinger equation, a correspondence only marred by a square root of minus unity appearing with the time derivative in the latter equation. The Kolmogoroff–Chapman relation for probabilities in Brownian motion has an analogue (2) in quantum mechanics, not for probabilities though, but for the complex probability amplitudes. The uncertainty relation also has a stochastic analogue (3). Some of these analogous characteristics are actually symptomatic of the gulf which separates these two theories. There are solutions to the diffusion equation which have a very clear physical probabilistic meaning. This is not the case with the corresponding and formally similar solutions to the Schrödinger equation and is partly due to the √ − 1 mentioned earlier. The probabilistic interpretation of the solutions to the diffusion equation is direct and immediate. On the other hand, the probabilistic interpretation of the solutions, ψ of the Schrödinger equation involve the introduction of the probability density, p = ψ*ψ. One great difference between these two theories lies in their each having distinct principles of linear superposition. In Stochastic Theory probabilities are superposed and in quantum mechanics amplitudes or wave functions are superposed.
We provide a large class of quantum evolutions governed by the memory kernel master equation. This class defines a quantum analog of so-called semi-Markov classical stochastic dynamics. In this paper we provide a precise definition of quantum semi-Markov evolution, and using the appropriate gauge freedom we propose a suitable generalization which contains a majority of examples considered so far in the literature. The key concepts are quantum counterparts of classical waiting time distribution and survival probability---a quantum waiting time operator and a quantum survival operator, respectively. In particular collision models and their generalizations considered recently are special examples of generalized semi-Markov evolution. This approach allows for an interesting generalization of the trajectory description of the quantum dynamics in terms of positive operator-valued measure densities.
Surface diffusion of small adsorbates is analyzed in terms of the so-called intermediate scattering function and dynamic structure factor, observables in experiments using the well-known quasielastic Helium atom scattering and Helium spin echo techniques. The linear theory applied is an extension of the neutron scattering due to van Hove and considers the time evolution of the position of the adsorbates in the surface. This approach allows us to use a stochastic trajectory description following the classical, quantum and Bohmian frameworks. Three different regimes of motion are clearly identified in the diffusion process: ballistic, Brownian and intermediate which are well characterized, for the first two regimes, through the mean square displacements and Einstein relation for the diffusion constant. The Langevin formalism is used by considering Ohmic friction, moderate surface temperatures and small coverages. In the Bohmian framework, analyzed here, the starting point is the so-called Schrödinger-Langevin equation which is a nonlinear, logarithmic differential equation. By assuming a Gaussian function for the probability density, the corresponding quantum stochastic trajectories are given by a dressing scheme consisting of a classical stochastic trajectory followed by the center of the Gaussian wave packet, and issued from solving the Langevin equation (particle property), plus the time evolution of its width governed by the damped Pinney differential equation (wave property). The Bohmian velocity autocorrelation function is the same as the classical one when the initial spread rate is assumed to be zero. If not, in the diffusion regime, the Brownian-Bohmian motion shows a weak anomalous diffusion.