Abstract The concept of simultaneity is relative in special relativity whereas, it seems to have a definite meaning in quantum mechanics. On the other hand, theory and experiments in quantum mechanics have revealed the existence of non-local causal relations. We propose to use the invariant space-time interval introduced by special relativity as a benchmark for constructing a spacetime framework presenting a notion of an invariant time. We suggest that a physical system creates a non-local field within the spacetime framework and that the wavefunction of the physical system is an ontological entity that represents this non-local field. We propose to explain measurement and entanglement by using de Broglie Bohm theory in the context of the constructed spacetime framework.
Abstract The concept of simultaneity is relative in special relativity whereas, it seems to have a definite meaning in quantum mechanics. On the other hand, theory and experiments in quantum mechanics have revealed the existence of non-local causal relations. We propose to use the invariant space-time interval introduced by special relativity as a benchmark for constructing a spacetime framework presenting a notion of an invariant time. We suggest that a physical system creates a non-local field within the spacetime framework and that the wavefunction of the physical system is an ontological entity that represents this non-local field. We propose to explain measurement and entanglement by using de Broglie Bohm theory in the context of the constructed spacetime framework.
The concept of simultaneity is relative in special relativity whereas, it seems to have a definite meaning in quantum mechanics. We propose to use the invariant space-time interval introduced by special relativity as a benchmark for constructing an absolute notion of space-time. We also propose to illustrate that when no measurement is conducted on a quantum system its wave function lives as a wave in the absolute space-time but, when a measurement is to be conducted, we must switch to an ordinary observable frame of reference where the quantum system lives as a particle.
All the arguments of a wavefunction are defined at the same instant, implying the notion of simultaneity. In a somewhat related matter, certain phenomena in quantum mechanics seem to have non-local causal relations. Both concepts contradict the special relativity. We propose defining the wavefunction with respect to the invariant proper time of special relativity instead of the standard time. Moreover, we shall adopt the original idea of Schrodinger, suggesting that the wavefunction represents an ontological cloud-like object that we shall call “individual fabric” that has a finite density amplitude vanishing at infinity. Consequently, the action of measurement can be assimilated to the introduction of a confining potential that triggers an inherent nonlocal mechanism within the individual fabric. This mechanism is formalised by multiplying the wavefunction with a localising Gaussian, as in the GRW theory, but in a deterministic manner.
AbstractLoophole-free Bell experiments have conclusively demonstrated that non-local correlations are a fundamental property of physical reality. Within the Minkowskian framework of Special Relativity (SRT), the relativity of simultaneity renders the temporal ordering of spacelike-separated events inherently frame-dependent. This creates a conceptual inconsistency for any ontologically realist interpretation of quantum mechanics: if measurement outcomes correspond to objective physical events, then the absence of a preferred foliation leads unavoidably to contradictory causal histories or retrocausal influences. In this work, we formulate a Conditional No-Go Theorem showing that Ontological Realism, Linear Causality, and Fundamental Lorentz Invariance cannot all hold simultaneously. Preserving a coherent causal structure therefore requires relinquishing Lorentz invariance as a primitive spacetime symmetry. We propose Absolute Simultaneity Theory (AST), a framework in which Lorentz covariance emerges thermodynamically from a quantum vacuum treated as a structured medium in equilibrium. Drawing on analogies with condensed-matter systems—particularly Volovik’s superfluid vacuum paradigm—we show that a preferred rest frame, plausibly identified with the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) frame, is fully compatible with the empirical success of SRT. In AST, local Lorentz symmetry arises as a stability condition of the underlying vacuum dynamics rather than as a fundamental geometric postulate. This reconceptualization allows quantum non-locality and relativistic kinematics to coexist within a unified, time-ordered ontology.
The nonlocality of entangled quantum mechanical systems is incompatible with the standard interpretation of special relativity as a single 4D Minkowskian metric spacetime. The difficulty is that the definition of a spacetime interval between any pair of events precludes any form of nonlocal interaction, even the relatively benign non-signaling correlations. By an application of the relativity principle, and the use of the space ←→ time symmetry of the Lorentz boost I propose here a reinterpretation of special relativistic spacetime. This new ontology consists of a set of coexisting 3+1D spaces (‘framespaces’), each containing unique content in the form of a complex density. These spaces are related by the Lorentz boost, and coupled pairwise in a manner dictated by the Lorentz transformation. The inter-space coupling acting on the spacetime content gives rise to a nonlocal wave phenomenon, which is identified as quantum wave mechanics. The interspace coupling strength is then inversely proportional to Planck’s constant. The coexistence of multiple spaces is interpreted as momentum superposition, implying that momentum is the fundamental physical basis of quantum superposition. This new spacetime interpretation of quantum mechanics has many consequences, including explanations of quantum non-locality, the spacetime role of Planck’s constant, quantum measurement as a symmetry-breaking process and the redundancy of description of gauge theory.
Abstract Quantum mechanics and relativity are two of the most successful theoretical frameworks in modern physics, yet their conceptual foundations remain difficult to reconcile at the deepest level. Quantum theory describes physical systems through states, observables, probabilities, measurement contexts, superposition, entanglement, and nonclassical correlations. Relativity describes physical processes through space-time structure, causal order, invariant physical law, observer-dependent decomposition of time and space, and constraints on signal propagation. This article examines the conceptual relationship between quantum measurement, relativistic causality, and space-time description. The purpose is not to present a mathematical unification but to analyze how the two frameworks organize physical explanation differently and where their interpretive tensions arise. Special attention is given to the measurement problem, the status of quantum states, the role of observers and reference frames, the meaning of locality, the distinction between correlation and causal influence, and the challenge of describing quantum processes without privileging a single global time. The article argues that many apparent conflicts between quantum theory and relativity result from importing classical intuitions into domains where they no longer apply. Quantum entanglement does not permit controllable faster-than-light communication, yet it challenges classical separability. Relativity forbids superluminal signaling, yet it does not require that all physically meaningful correlations be reducible to local classical properties. Measurement introduces another difficulty because standard quantum theory often describes state update in a way that appears instantaneous, while relativistic space-time does not provide a universal present. The discussion develops a conceptual framework in which quantum measurement is treated as a physical interaction, relativistic causality as a constraint on operational influence, and space-time description as an organizing structure for events rather than a simple background stage. This analysis is relevant for quantum field theory, quantum information, relativistic quantum foundations, and future approaches to quantum gravity.
Probability amplitude waves described by quantum mechanics are globally coherent relativistically space-like space-time structures, having no internal causal links. In this sense these non-classical structures are anticipated by the classical ontology of special relativity, which also delineates (in a completely different way) space-like non-causal intervals in space-time. I discuss and distinguish two broad classes of globally coherent relativistically space-like space-time structure, and suggest a parsimonious extension of the core ontology of physics to include both (rather than only one as at present), as a way of resolving some puzzles in the interpretation of quantum mechanics, and motivating its formalism. This ontological extension yields well known formal features usually postulated ad-hoc, such as separability of the wave function, and explains the puzzling absolute nature of time in quantum mechanics. The curious fact that the ontologies of both special relativity and quantum mechanics delineate (in strikingly different ways) strictly non-causal intervals in space-time suggests the existence of an explanatory “last common ancestor” ontology, at a higher level of abstraction than the ontologies of either. I briefly sketch such an ontology, consisting of world self-mappings, in terms of which there are two distinct concepts of time, intrinsic and extrinsic, which together play an abstract identity role in the world, and which suggests part of the meaning of both special relativity and quantum mechanics, and of the non-causal coherence of non-classical space-time structures, concerns extrinsic abstract structure, in particular extrinsic time.