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A Maximum Entropy Approach to Wave Mechanics

Juho Leppäkangas

Published Dec 1, 2019• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We employ the maximum entropy principle, in the context of statistical inference by impersonal physical interactions, together with the experimental position-momentum uncertainty phenomenon to construct the general wave mechanical static state of a single, interacting mass particle with no internal degrees of freedom. Subsequently, this first principle approach allows to derive via Newtonian mechanics the dynamical equation of motion in the realm of non-relativistic wave mechanics, i.e., the Schrodinger equation.

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We employ the maximum entropy principle, in the context of statistical inference by impersonal physical interactions, together with the experimental position-momentum uncertainty phenomenon to construct the general wave mechanical static state of a single, interacting mass particle with no internal degrees of freedom. Subsequently, this first principle approach allows to derive via Newtonian mechanics the dynamical equation of motion in the realm of non-relativistic wave mechanics, i.e., the Schrodinger equation.
Non-relativistic quantum theory is derived from information codified into an appropriate statistical model. The basic assumption is that there is an irreducible uncertainty in the location of particles so that the configuration space is a statistical manifold. The dynamics then follows from a principle of inference, the method of Maximum Entropy. The concept of time is introduced as a convenient way to keep track of change. The resulting formalism is close to Nelson’s stochastic mechanics. The statistical manifold is a dynamical entity: its (information) geometry determines the evolution of the probability distribution which, in its turn, reacts back and determines the evolution of the geometry. As in General Relativity there is a kind of equivalence principle in that “fictitious ” forces – in this case diffusive “osmotic ” forces – turn out to be “real”. This equivalence of quantum and statistical fluctuations – or of quantum and classical probabilities – leads to a natural explanation of the equality of inertial and “osmotic ” masses and allows explaining quantum theory as a sophisticated example of entropic inference. Mass and the phase of the wave function are explained as features of purely statistical origin.
Newtonian dynamics is derived from prior information codified into an appropriate statistical model. The basic assumption is that there is an irreducible uncertainty in the location of particles so that the state of a particle is defined by a probability distribution. The corresponding configuration space is a statistical manifold the geometry of which is defined by the information metric. The trajectory follows from a principle of inference, the method of Maximum Entropy No additional “physical” postulates such as an equation of motion, or an action principle, nor the concepts of momentum and of phase space, not even the notion of time, need to be postulated. The resulting entropic dynamics reproduces the Newtonian dynamics of any number of particles interacting among themselves and with external fields. Both the mass of the particles and their interactions are explained as a consequence of the underlying statistical manifold.
Non-relativistic quantum theory is derived from information codified into an appropriate statistical model. The basic assumption is that there is an irreducible uncertainty in the location of particles: positions constitute a configuration space and the corresponding probability distributions constitute a statistical manifold. The dynamics follows from a principle of inference, the method of Maximum Entropy. The concept of time is introduced as a convenient way to keep track of change. A welcome feature is that the entropic dynamics notion of time incorporates a natural distinction between past and future. The statistical manifold is assumed to be a dynamical entity: its curved and evolving geometry determines the evolution of the particles which, in their turn, react back and determine the evolution of the geometry. Imposing that the dynamics conserve energy leads to the Schroedinger equation and to a natural explanation of its linearity, its unitarity, and of the role of complex numbers. The phase of the wave function is explained as a feature of purely statistical origin. There is a quantum analogue to the gravitational equivalence principle.
The initial purpose is to add two physical origins for the outstandingly clear mathematical description that Dirac has left in his Principles of Quantum Mechanics. The first is the “internal motion” in the wave function of the electron that is now expressed through dispersion dynamics; the second is the physical origin for mathematical quantization. Bohr’s model for the hydrogen atom was “the greatest single step in the development of the theory of atomic structure.” It leads to the Schrodinger equation which is non-relativistic, but which conveniently equates together momentum and electrostatic potential in a representation containing mixed powers. Firstly, we show how the equation is expansible to approximate relativistic form by applying solutions for the dilation of time in special relativity, and for the contraction of space. The adaptation is to invariant “harmonic events” that are digitally quantized. Secondly, the internal motion of the electron is described by a stable wave packet that implies wave-particle duality. The duality includes uncertainty that is precisely described with some variance from Heisenberg’s axiomatic limit. Harmonic orbital wave functions are self-constructive. This is the physical origin of quantization.
We apply the many-particle Schrödinger-Newton equation, which describes the coevolution of a many-particle quantum wave function and a classical space-time geometry, to macroscopic mechanical objects. By averaging over motions of the objects' internal degrees of freedom, we obtain an effective Schrödinger-Newton equation for their centers of mass, which can be monitored and manipulated at quantum levels by state-of-the-art optomechanics experiments. For a single macroscopic object moving quantum mechanically within a harmonic potential well, its quantum uncertainty is found to evolve at a frequency different from its classical eigenfrequency-with a difference that depends on the internal structure of the object-and can be observable using current technology. For several objects, the Schrödinger-Newton equation predicts semiclassical motions just like Newtonian physics, yet quantum uncertainty cannot be transferred from one object to another.