With a clever new interpretation of the Schrödinger equation, those quantum experiments that allegedly prove that the quantum world is weird, no longer do so. When we approach the math from an unexpected angle, experiments that appeared to prove that time can go backwards in the quantum world, no longer say that. Experiments that appeared to demonstrate that a particle can be in two places at the same time, no longer say that. This requires that we take a counter-intuitive approach to the math, rather than a counter-intuitive approach to the quantum world. QM makes sensible assumptions and discovers that the quantum world is weird. Our math from the Theory of Elementary Waves (TEW) makes weird assumptions and discovers that the quantum world is sensible. We pay the weirdness tax up front. QM does not pay the weirdness tax and is penalized with a permanent misperception of the quantum world. This article is paired with a lively YouTube video that explains the same thing in 18 minutes: “New Schrödinger wave mathematics changes experiments from saying there is, to denying there is quantum weirdness.” That video can be found at the website ElementaryWave.com.
With a clever new interpretation of the Schrödinger equation, those quantum experiments that allegedly prove that the quantum world is weird, no longer do so. When we approach the math from an unexpected angle, experiments that appeared to prove that time can go backwards in the quantum world, no longer say that. Experiments that appeared to demonstrate that a particle can be in two places at the same time, no longer say that. This requires that we take a counter-intuitive approach to the math, rather than a counter-intuitive approach to the quantum world. QM makes sensible assumptions and discovers that the quantum world is weird. Our math from the Theory of Elementary Waves (TEW) makes weird assumptions and discovers that the quantum world is sensible. We pay the weirdness tax up front. QM does not pay the weirdness tax and is penalized with a permanent misperception of the quantum world. This article is paired with a lively YouTube video that explains the same thing in 18 minutes: “New Schrödinger wave mathematics changes experiments from saying there is, to denying there is quantum weirdness.” That video can be found at the website ElementaryWave.com.
The Theory of Elementary Waves (TEW) is based on three new Axioms that lead to a different understanding of quantum mathematics. There is a massive amount of research data that supports TEW. This article will take six well established experiments from mainstream scientific journals and re-interpret their axioms from a TEW point of view. Although it is usually asserted that QM explains all existing quantum experiments, that is only true if you can convince yourself that the quantum world is weird. If you adopt TEW axioms, suddenly the quantum world transforms itself into looking ordinary, like everyday Nature. If, for example, time only goes forwards, never backwards; if there is no such thing as a quantum eraser; if nothing is transmitted faster than the speed of light, then TEW axioms allow you to make sense of a quantum world which QM can only explain if you allow for weirdness throughout Nature. TEW consists of axioms that allow us to understand the quantum world in a way that makes sense from the viewpoint of our everyday experience.
This article proposes that an unexpected approach to the mathematics of a Schro ̋dinger wave packet and Quantum Electro-Dynamics (QED), could vastly simplify how we perceive the world around us. It could get rid of most if not all quantum weirdness. Schro ̋dinger’s cat would be gone. Even things that we thought were unquestionably true about the quantum world would change. For example, the double slit experiment would no longer support wave particle duality. Experiments that appeared to say that entangled particles can communicate instantaneously over great distances, would no longer say that. Although the tiny mathematical change is counterintuitive, Occam’s razor dictates that we consider it because it simplifies how we view Nature in such a pervasive way. The change in question is to view a Schro ̋dinger wave packet as part of a larger Elementary Wave traveling in the opposite direction. It is known in quantum mechanics that the same wave can travel in two countervailing directions simultaneously. Equivalent changes would be made to QED and Quantum Field Theory. It is known in QM that there are zero energy waves: for example, the Schro ̋dinger wave carries amplitudes but not energy.
The quantum world is allegedly strange. But is it? What if there’s a simple mathematical explanation, and a simple solution? The success of quantum mechanics (QM) arises from the accuracy of its probability predictions, which are obtained by squaring amplitudes (the Born rule). Suppose for a moment that nature uses the negative of QM’s equations. When squared they would yield the same probabilities, confirmed by the same experiments and technological triumphs. If that were true, if nature uses the negative of QM’s equations, then the quantum world would become transparent, easy to understand. No more Schrödinger’s-cat. No quantum-eraser. No backwards-in-time cause-and-effect. No paradoxes nor enigmas. But, what’s a negative quantum equation? It could mean that particles follow zero-energy waves backwards, instead of forwards. That’s still an eccentric idea, a residual strangeness. Overall, it’s a bargain. We could swap one odd idea for another, because wave-particle duality is odd. We are accustomed to wave-particle duality. But we’ll show that experiments support the other arrangement: quantum particles follow zero-energy waves backwards. How could that possibly be true? We present substantial experimental evidence, new mathematics, and six dozen colorful illustrations. This is the Theory of Elementary Waves (TEW).
Is the quantum world as strange as they say? If this were an unsolved mathematics question, we might try a new angle of attack. We know quantum mechanics (QM) is the most accurate and productive science humans ever had, meaning its probability predictions are accurate. Every probability has two square roots. The Born rule says either would produce the same probability. Assume nature uses the negative of QM’s equations. What could that mean? We’d need to revise Feynman’s path-integrals and Schrödinger’s equation. If waves travel in the opposite direction as what QM believes, that could produce the negative equations. No wave-particle duality. Free particles would follow backwards zero-energy waves coming from detectors. This, surprisingly, gets rid of quantum weirdness. Our proposal is that nature uses the negative of QM’s equations because particles follow zero-energy waves backwards. Considerable evidence fits this model, including a neutron-interferometer and the Davisson-Germer experiments, a quantum-eraser experiment, Wheeler-gedanken and double-slit experiments, Bell-test experiments, Stern-Gerlach, and high-energy scattering experiments. Finally, we propose a plan for how to motivate students to want to study quantum technologies, thereby addressing the most prominent problem in QM today: the shortage of an educated workforce, the scarcity of aspiring students.
A consensus among quantum experts is that the quantum world is not properly understood. It is a mistake to think we can cure quantum weirdness by tinkering with superficial aspects of quantum mechanics (QM). We propose that nature uses (–ψ) as its wave function, whereas QM uses (+ψ). We propose therefore that the Periodical Table should be changed to negative orbitals (–ψ). Surprisingly, this change makes almost no difference to chemistry on a practical level. The Born rule takes the absolute square of an amplitude to obtain a probability to test in chemistry lab P=|–ψ|2=|+ψ|2. We propose a new math based on (–ψ) that is the mirror image of quantum mathematics. We call it the Theory of Elementary Waves (TEW). The negative sign is not an electrical charge. It has nothing to do with Coulomb’s law. Valence electrons are unchanged. Ions, covalent bonds, dipoles, metals, hydrogen bonding and the hydrogen 21 cm line are unchanged. The octet rule and rules for drawing dot structures of molecules do not change. Amino acids, sugars and DNA do not change their handedness. We cite abundant experimental evidence showing that TEW is correct and QM is wrong.
All “interpretations” of Quantum Mechanics (QM) are predicated on the assumption that quantum mathematics is correct. We disagree. The Born rule implies that nature may have a hidden symmetry: |+ψ|2 = |–ψ|2 = probability. If nature uses –ψ then physicists would not recognize that their math is 100% wrong. This hypothesis could explain the mystery that quantum math appears to be the most accurate and productive mathematics humans ever possessed, the source of our high-tech economy, yet scientists cannot agree on what the quantum world is like: does it exist, are there infinitely many worlds, etc. If we change our wave-function from +ψ to –ψ, that will mean that quantum particles follow zero-energy “Elementary Waves” backwards. This symmetry does not conform to Noether’s Theorem because it does not involve physical space, rather an error in the human imagination. Wave-function collapse no longer occurs when a quantum particle is observed. It occurs when a free particle is emitted: when the particle selects which in-coming Elementary Wave to follow backwards. This undermines the foundations of the many-worlds theory. A superposition of states collapses as a particle is emitted, becoming only one state, located in only one world, not many. Type (Method/Approach): No one previously recognized the Born rule could hide a “Born Symmetry”: |+ψ|2 ≡ |–ψ|2. If so, it would be so immense, pervasive, insidious, and invisible that it could explain all quantum “weirdness” even though quantum math is the most accurate and productive science ever.