A Fundamental Force as the Deterministic Explanation of Quantum Mechanics

Gerard ’t Hooft

Marcoen J. T. F. Cabbolet

A fundamental question in the debate about the interpretations of quantum mechanics (QM) is whether the universe is fundamentally deterministic or fundamentally probabilistic. This self-contained paper shows for a microsystem made up of a single neutron that is initially at rest in a stationary force-free environment, that even if the individual processes by which the microsystem evolves are fundamentally deterministic as described by a strictly deterministic model of the Elementary Process Theory (EPT), then still our most precise knowledge of the outcome of a position measurement on the microsystem is fundamentally probabilistic. Generalizing, the conclusion is that the EPT is inconsistent with orthodox QM, but consistent with $ψ$-epistemic QM.

Niall Shanks

Christopher C. Gerry, Kimberley M. Bruno

Standard quantum theory is highly successful in all its applications, from photons and atoms, to semiconductors, superconductors, quarks, and so on. Yet the need to understand what the theory is really trying to tell us about the nature of the world beyond specific predictions forces us into the realm of philosophy, or, as some have dubbed it, quantum metaphysics: the study of the interpretation of quantum mechanics. There is a wide range of opinions regarding the philosophical foundations of quantum mechanics. This chapter focuses on two of the most prominent interpretations: the Copenhagen interpretation, and one alternative interpretation that has been gaining some support in recent years, the many-worlds interpretation (MWI), also known as the many universes interpretation. The central issues of contention are: firstly, that the measurement of some attribute of a quantum system generally involves the probabilistic collapse, or reduction, of the state vector where the probabilistic nature of the process is inherent—that is, not reducible to a more fundamental, deterministic explanation; and, secondly, the problem of bringing a measurement to a completion—a problem generally known as the measurement paradox.

Anton Zeilinger

Roumen Tsekov

It is shown that real particles as electrons are not quantum per se. The quantum wavy character of their stochastic motion is due to force carriers transmitting the fundamental interactions. The discreteness of these relativistic quantum virtual particles as photons leads to appearance of integer quantum numbers in the solutions of the Schrödinger equation. Thus, the wave-particle dualism finally finds its rational explanation.