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Applied Physics Research

Making Sense of Quantum Superposition

Francois Danis

Published Jul 29, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In previous work, a new interpretation of spacetime diagrams has been presented. That new interpretation would define some spacetime areas where superposition seems to exist. Applied to the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox, locality would be back despite the observations of entanglement. This work also leads to the idea that superposition can only exist for the wave, but the particle should have a single position. Two new experiments are proposed, the first one is a new test for entanglement, the second would explore the link wave-particle and the complementarity principle.

DOI
10.5539/apr.v17n2p1

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In previous work, a new interpretation of spacetime diagrams has been presented. That new interpretation would define some spacetime areas where superposition seems to exist. Applied to the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox, locality would be back despite the observations of entanglement. This work also leads to the idea that superposition can only exist for the wave, but the particle should have a single position. Two new experiments are proposed, the first one is a new test for entanglement, the second would explore the link wave-particle and the complementarity principle.
In quantum mechanics, the general state describing two or more particles is a linear superposition of product states. Such a superposition is called entangled if it cannot be factored into just one product. When only two particles are entangled, the stage is set for Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) discussions and Bell's proof that the EPR viewpoint contradicts quantum mechanics. If more than two particles are involved, new possibilities and phenomena arise. For example, the Greenberger, Horne, and Zeilinger (GHZ) disproof of EPR applies. Furthermore, as we point out, with three or more particles even entanglement itself can be an entangled property.
Bohm's spin polarization modification of the paradox of Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen has served as the basis for numerous analyses of the roles of hidden variables and Einstein locality in quantum mechanics. The present note points out how corresponding analyses can be carried out on the original formulation of Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR) in terms of observations of position and momentum. Concrete conceptual experiments are proposed to furnish tangible illustrations of EPR tests of reality, and a position-momentum variant of Bell's inequality is formulated. Implications regarding joint measurements of position and momentum, delayed choice experiments, and superluminal communication are discussed briefly.
The famous EPR paradox shows that if we describe quantum particles in the usual way -- by their wave functions -- then we get the following seeming contradiction. If we entangle the states of the two particles, then move them far away from each other, and measure the state of the first particle, then the state of the second particle immediately changes -- which contradicts to special relativity, according to which such immediate-action-at-a-distance is not possible. It is known that, from the physical viewpoint, this is not a real paradox: if we measure any property of the second particle, the results will not change whether we perform the measurement on the first particle or not. What the above argument shows is that the usual wave function description of a quantum state does not always adequately describe the corresponding physics. In this paper, we propose a new, more physically adequate description of a quantum state, a description in which there is no EPR paradox: measurements performed at the first particle does not change the state of the remote second one.
Lying at the heart of quantum mechanics, the notion of quantum superposition causes enormous difficulty in understanding the problem of quantum measurement, which concerns the Einstein-Bohr debate on the conceptual foundations of the quantum theory. According to Bell’s theorem, Einstein’s viewpoint in his debate with Bohr seems to be wrong. In the present paper, a new principle (referred to as the general principle of measurements) is introduced and proved as a mathematical theorem. Based on this principle, various forms of quantum superposition (including quantum entanglement) and the corresponding experiments are scrutinized. The main findings are as follows. (a) Einstein’s viewpoint is correct and Bell’s theorem is problematic. (b) Measurement outcomes of any actual experiment with individual microscopic objects described in a form of quantum superposition, in particular, the experimental results of testing Bell inequalities, are all erroneously explained. (c) Bell inequalities failed to capture the essence of the Einstein-Bohr debate, i.e., whether quantum superposition is legitimate for describing individual microscopic objects. (d) All kinds of quantum superposition violate the general principle of measurements and hence are illegitimate. (e) Quantum mechanics can be completed by using disjunction (“or”) as the logical relation between the orthonormal vectors that span an arbitrarily given Hilbert space for describing a single microscopic object, and the mathematical setting will remain essentially unchanged; hidden-variable theories are irrelevant to the real world. (f) After completing quantum mechanics as above, the difficulty in understanding the problem of quantum measurement disappears naturally. Implications of the findings are also discussed.
A generalization of the 1935 Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) argument for measurements with continuous variable outcomes is presented to establish criteria for the demonstration of the EPR paradox, for situations where the correlation between spatially separated subsystems is not perfect. Two types of criteria for EPR correlations are determined. The first type are based on measurements of the variances of conditional probability distributions and are necessary to reflect directly the situation of the original EPR paradox. The second weaker set of EPR criteria are based on the proven failure of (Bell-type) local realistic theories which could be consistent with a local quantum description for each subsystem. The relationship with criteria sufficient to prove entanglement is established, to show that any demonstration of EPR correlations will also signify entanglement. It is also shown how a demonstration of entanglement between two spatially separated subsystems, if not able to interpreted as a violation of a Bell-type inequality, may be interpreted as a demonstration of the EPR correlations. In particular it is explained how the experimental observation of two-mode squeezing using spatially separated detectors will signify not only entanglement but EPR correlations defined in a general sense.