We investigate modifications of quantum mechanics (QM) that replace the unitary group in a finite dimensional Hilbert space with a finite group and determine the minimal sequence of subgroups necessary to approximate QM arbitrarily closely for general choices of Hamiltonian. This mathematical study reveals novel insights about 't Hooft's Ontological Quantum Mechanics, and the derivation of statistical mechanics from quantum mechanics. We show that Kornyak's proposal to understand QM as classical dynamics on a Hilbert space of one dimension higher than that describing the universe, supplemented by a choice of the value of a naturally conserved quantum operator in that classical evolution can probably be a model of the world we observe.
There are four finite groups that could plausibly play the role of the spin group in a finite or discrete model of quantum mechanics, namely the four double covers of the three rotation groups of the Platonic solids. In an earlier paper I have considered in detail how the smallest of these groups, namely the binary tetrahedral group, of order 24, could give rise to a non-relativistic theory that contains much of the structure of the standard model of particle physics. In this paper I consider how one of the two double covers of the rotation group of the cube might extend this to a relativistic theory.