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Quanta

Timeless Approach to Quantum Jumps

Ignazio Francesco Licata, Leonardo Chiatti

Published Oct 11, 2015• 24 citations
Publisher

Abstract

According to the usual quantum description, the time evolution of the quantum state is continuous and deterministic except when a discontinuous and indeterministic collapse of state vector occurs. The collapse has been a central topic since the origin of the theory, although there are remarkable theoretical proposals to understand its nature, such as the Ghirardi–Rimini–Weber. Another possibility could be the assimilation of collapse with the now experimentally well established phenomenon of quantum jump, postulated by Bohr already in 1913. The challenge of nonlocality offers an opportunity to reconsider the quantum jump as a fundamental element of the logic of the physical world, rather than a subsidiary accident. We propose here a simple preliminary model that considers quantum jumps as processes of entry to and exit from the usual temporal domain to a timeless vacuum, without contradicting the quantum relativistic formalism, and we present some potential connections with particle physics. Quanta 2015; 4: 10–26.

DOI
10.12743/quanta.v4i1.31

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According to the usual quantum description, the time evolution of the quantum state is continuous and deterministic except when a discontinuous and indeterministic collapse of state vector occurs. The collapse has been a central topic since the origin of the theory, although there are remarkable theoretical proposals to understand its nature, such as the Ghirardi–Rimini–Weber. Another possibility could be the assimilation of collapse with the now experimentally well established phenomenon of quantum jump, postulated by Bohr already in 1913. The challenge of nonlocality offers an opportunity to reconsider the quantum jump as a fundamental element of the logic of the physical world, rather than a subsidiary accident. We propose here a simple preliminary model that considers quantum jumps as processes of entry to and exit from the usual temporal domain to a timeless vacuum, without contradicting the quantum relativistic formalism, and we present some potential connections with particle physics. Quanta 2015; 4: 10–26.
Abstract: Quantum theory does not require the existence of discontinuities: neither in time (quantum jumps), nor in space (particles), nor in spacetime (quantum events). These apparent discontinuities are readily described objectively by the continuous process of decoherence occurring locally on a very short time scale according to the Schrdinger equation for interacting systems, while the observerÕs Ôincrease of informationÕ is appropriately represented by the resulting dynamical decoupling of the corresponding components of the global wave function. Physics Letters A172, 189 (1993) 2As far as is known, all properties of closed quantum systems are perfectly described by means of wave functions in configuration space (in general, wave functionals of certain fields) dynamically evolving smoothly according to the time-dependent Schrdinger equation. However, the condition of being closed (or shielded against interactions with the environment) can easily be estimated to be quite exceptional. It characterizes very special (usually atomic) systems from which the laws of quantum mechanics were derived. When the shielding ceases, most notably during measurements, discontinuous
Ever since we have been in the possession of quantum theories without observers, such as Bohmian mechanics or the Ghirardi‐Rimini‐Weber (GRW) theory of spontaneous wave function collapse, a major challenge in the foundations of quantum mechanics is to devise a relativistic quantum theory without observers. One of the difficulties is to reconcile nonlocality with relativity. I report about recent progress in this direction based on the GRW model: A relativistic version of the model has been devised for the case of N noninteracting (but entangled) particles. A key ingredient was to focus not on the evolution of the wave function but rather on the evolution of the matter in space‐time as determined by the wave function.
A theoretical description of quantum jumps at the level of elementary particles is proposed, based on a micro-cosmological interpretation of their de Broglie phase. The third quantization formalism proposed in current literature for the description of baby universes in quantum cosmology is used here to describe the breakdown of unitarity in the transition from the pre-jump to the post-jump wave function. The corpuscular aspect manifested by the particle in the micro-interaction that originates the jump is represented by a pair of evanescent "micro-universes", respectively pre- and post-jump, connected by a wormhole. The latter represents the actual implementation of the interaction that leads to the projection on the outgoing state; this interaction is always local, even when the selected outgoing state is entangled. Therefore, the decoherence which leads to the emergence of classicality is originated by the same fundamental interactions of the Standard Model involved in the unitary evolution of the wave function. The objective nature of the reduction process admits implications on the possibility of using the formalism in the cosmological context, which are briefly discussed.
This paper proposes a timeless interpretation of quantum mechanics in which fundamental reality is configurational rather than temporal. What we perceive as the temporal evolution of a particle is reinterpreted as our sequential perspective on a static structure of spatial correlations. Quantum superposition reveals this nature: all possible spatial configurations coexist in a timeless reality, and only when we—bound by time—observe the system, do we project this multiplicity into a temporal sequence. When we measure a quantum system, we do not collapse a wave function but rather synchronize our clock-system with a specific section of the timeless structure. This interpretation connects naturally with existing timeless approaches such as the Page-Wootters mechanism and Wheeler-DeWitt equation, while offering a distinctive perspective on the nature of the wave function, measurement, and the emergence of time from correlations within an atemporal quantum reality.
Abstract This article presents a revised and conceptually refined formulation of a previously proposed Temporal Interpretation of quantum measurement, explicitly addressing the physical nature of wavefunction collapse. While the original proposal emphasised relativistic aspects of momentum superpositions, the present work clarifies the interpretation within the standard formalism of quantum mechanics, without introducing new dynamics or experimental predictions. Unitary evolution is read as a process of differentiated phase accumulation between branches of a quantum state. In relativistic contexts, phase differentials can be structurally related to effective proper-time differentials, allowing the introduction of a notion of temporal compatibility that provides a physically grounded account of decoherence. When such differentials exceed a characteristic scale, interference between branches becomes operationally inaccessible, while global unitarity is preserved. The observer is treated as a physical system endowed with an irreversible proper time associated with macroscopic, entropic dynamics. Within this framework, collapse is explained as an emergent physical phenomenon arising from the irreversibility of the observer’s proper time, which prevents the reconstruction of phase coherence after an interaction. Collapse is therefore neither a fundamental dynamical mechanism nor an objective event in space-time, but a necessary consequence of temporal irreversibility in physical observers. This formulation sharpens the distinction between decoherence and collapse, preserves full consistency with the Born rule, and positions the Temporal Interpretation as a competing interpretative framework that provides a concrete physical explanation for the quantum–classical transition, improving and clarifying the original proposal. This version clarifies the operational status of the interaction time, refines Sections 5.3 and 5.4, and standardises references and editorial structure. No changes to the formalism or conclusions.
A deterministic quantum mechanics theory is presented. The proposed theory is shown to be consistent with the current mainstream statistical quantum theory as well as with classical physics. It produces solutions that demonstrate that causality, physical reality, and determinism are restored and can explain in simple form concerns raised by results from the current mainstream statistical quantum theory. The meaning of particle-wave duality and complementarity, the possibility of a particle, like an electron, crossing through the nucleus as it does when the angular momentum of the electron is zero at the ground state of the hydrogen atom, the possibility of a point-size particle to have an “intrinsic spin,” the possibility of “quantum jumps” as the electron transitions instantaneously from one stable orbital to another without passing through the space in between the orbitals and does that at irregular time intervals. The natural collapse of the wave function as part of the solution is a result that emerges from the proposed deterministic quantum mechanics theory. The phenomenon of entanglement is also discussed in the context that information transfer between entangled “particles” does not occur in a superluminal fashion and is not a “spooky action at a distance” but rather the local measurement of global property. A linear stability method presents actual analytical solutions consistent with current mainstream quantum theory and classical physics. The Bohr-Schrödinger energy levels leading to the experimentally confirmed spectral lines and the fine structure constant emerge from an approximate solution to these equations.