This is the third paper in the IFUF (Information-First Unified Framework) series, presenting a structural reinterpretation of the double-slit experiment. Unlike standard quantum mechanics, which relies on the arbitrary wave function collapse hypothesis, IFUF explains coherence loss through two unified mechanisms: Instantaneous Coherence Collapse and Temporal Coherence Decay (₸ Law). This paper introduces the concept of Coherence Length (Lc) as a quantifiable measure of quantum stability, directly linked to a particle’s intrinsic ₸ value. It reinterprets experimental data from large molecule interference (e.g., C60, C70) as structural validation of the IFUF model, showing that each collision constitutes a localized EMagnitude interaction—effectively a measurement event. By replacing environmental decoherence with internal structural necessity, IFUF offers a unified, predictive framework for quantum behavior and defines the ultimate physical boundaries for future quantum technologies.
This is the third paper in the IFUF (Information-First Unified Framework) series, presenting a structural reinterpretation of the double-slit experiment. Unlike standard quantum mechanics, which relies on the arbitrary wave function collapse hypothesis, IFUF explains coherence loss through two unified mechanisms: Instantaneous Coherence Collapse and Temporal Coherence Decay (₸ Law). This paper introduces the concept of Coherence Length (Lc) as a quantifiable measure of quantum stability, directly linked to a particle’s intrinsic ₸ value. It reinterprets experimental data from large molecule interference (e.g., C60, C70) as structural validation of the IFUF model, showing that each collision constitutes a localized EMagnitude interaction—effectively a measurement event. By replacing environmental decoherence with internal structural necessity, IFUF offers a unified, predictive framework for quantum behavior and defines the ultimate physical boundaries for future quantum technologies.
This work presents a unified, interpretive account of quantum interference and delayed-choice experiments that applies equally to photons and massive particles. Rather than invoking spacetime trajectories, wave–particle duality, retrocausality, or collapse postulates, the paper locates quantum interference in the coherent evolution of internal, pre-geometric degrees of freedom defined over classical spacetime. Within this framework, “which-path” questions are not merely unanswered but fundamentally ill-posed: interference arises from global coherence of an internal field subject to experimental boundary conditions, while spacetime itself remains single-valued and classical at laboratory scales. The approach reproduces all standard quantum-mechanical predictions without modification and is explicitly interpretive rather than predictive. A central result is a unified explanation of why interference occurs across disparate physical systems—photons, electrons, atoms, and molecules—while decoherence manifests through system-dependent physical mechanisms. Photons and massive particles differ in how internal coherence is lost (e.g., electromagnetic absorption versus collisional and thermal interactions), but not in the underlying principle. Delayed-choice experiments are reinterpreted without paradox: changes to the apparatus modify boundary conditions for the internal field rather than retroactively altering particle histories. By removing spacetime paths from the fundamental ontology, the framework offers a consistent, path-free account of interference, decoherence, and localized detection that preserves the empirical success of quantum mechanics while clarifying its conceptual foundations.
This paper develops a fully empirical, physics-grounded reinterpretation of the double-slit experiment using the same flux-ledger framework established in Modules A–D of the Zero Infinity Research Program. By expressing quantum interference in terms of probability current density, boundary flux, and environmental decoherence, the work shows that the double-slit phenomenon requires no mysteries, hidden forces, or nonlocal metaphysics. Instead, the interference pattern emerges naturally from: Conservation of probability current, Phase-coherent flux across an open boundary, and Loss of coherence encoded as a measurable entropy-flux term Ψ∞. The analysis re-derives the standard results—interference fringes, collapse under measurement, and decoherence scaling—from first principles while embedding them within the broader conservation trilogy: Φ∞ (boundary energy flux) Ψ∞ (entropy/memory flux) Π∞ (momentum flux) This connects quantum optics to the same flux-driven framework used to model black hole mergers, spacecraft recoil, comet polarization curves, and organic spectral coherence in earlier modules. The paper also integrates cross-disciplinary results from decoherence theory, Bohmian mechanics, optical coherence tomography, and open quantum systems, showing how each maps cleanly onto a boundary-flux formalism. The result is a physically rigorous, mathematically transparent, and conceptually unifying explanation of the double-slit experiment—one that preserves standard quantum mechanics while clarifying how and where interference information is stored, exported, and erased. This work extends the Zero Infinity Program into quantum foundations, offering a synthesis of classical wave mechanics, quantum probability current, thermodynamic export, and information flow across system boundaries.
The double-slit experiment has remained one of the most profound and conceptually challenging demonstrations in physics. While the mathematical framework of Quantum Mechanics - superposition, wave function, and state collapse - accurately predicts outcomes, it fails to provide a clear causal description of how potential quantum states transform into actual, registered events. This paper presents the Event-Chain Model, a new conceptual framework that represents every quantum process as a causal sequence of connected physical events. Each event reflects an irreversible registration, transforming quantum potentials into factual reality. The model introduces three core components: the Potential Pattern, the Irreversible Event, and the Event Chain that constitutes reality itself. Using this framework, the paper explains interference, decoherence, quantum erasure, and the EPR-eraser experiments without invoking many-worlds or retrocausality. Superposition is defined as a Potential Pattern - a structured map of possibilities - while collapse is redefined as a natural, physical registration process that generates an event in the chain of reality. Interference patterns thus emerge not as physical waves but as cumulative records of uncollapsed potentials. The Event-Chain Model preserves all results of Quantum Mechanics while adding a transparent causal layer, linking mathematical formalism with physical reality. It provides a unified interpretation of how potential, event, and actuality co-exist and evolve within a consistent quantum framework.
A complete walkthrough, accessible to undergraduates and the general reader, of how the substrate framework explains the double-slit experiment for an electron and photon. We follow the electron and photon from emission to detection, tracking what happens in Frame 1 (the continuous quantum reality) and Frame 2 (the discrete observed reality), and we calculate every step. By the end of this chapter, you should understand: why interference happens, why "which-slit measurement" destroys it, and how the substrate framework explains both without postulating mysterious wavefunction collapse. For all existing matter-wave interferometry experiments (atoms, molecules, electrons), the framework predicts substrate-induced decoherence rates FAR below environmental decoherence. The framework therefore predicts that no current matter-wave experiment can distinguish substrate decoherence from environmental decoherence. The BMV-scale regime (m ~ 10⁻¹⁴ kg, γ ~ 10² Hz) is where the framework first becomes directly testable in laboratory experiments. The (m/M_P)² scaling means coherence time τ_coh = 1/γ scales as 1/m². Doubling the mass quarters the coherence time. This is a sharp prediction that distinguishes the framework from collapse models.
IFT-ISE is a unified quantum–informational framework in which wave–particle behavior emerges from the interaction between informational structure, geometry, and time. The model extends the standard photonic Hilbert space by introducing an internal informational subsystem, not as a new force or interaction, but as a generator of relational constraints. The framework combines Informational Field Theory (IFT)—where spatial probability distributions arise from local informational entropy gradients—with Internal State Encoding (ISE), a discrete informational basis governing the accessibility of particle-like states. Within this perspective, informational asymmetry does not induce collapse through measurement, but generates relational time and state distinguishability within the local informational geometry. Since photons possess no proper time, the emergence of even minimal relational time renders wave-like propagation incompatible, enforcing particle-like behavior without invoking observer-induced collapse. This reinterpretation provides a physically transparent explanation for the extreme sensitivity of the double-slit experiment to infinitesimal which-path information. IFT-ISE reconstructs the double-slit experiment, predicts upstream coherence modulation prior to slit interaction, and extends naturally to black-hole horizons, where extreme informational geometry suppresses temporal accessibility and amplifies informational structure. Mathematical derivations, conceptual diagrams, and experimentally testable predictions are provided, offering a coherent informational foundation for quantum optical and gravitational boundary phenomena.
This paper, authored by Aidan McGill in October 2024, proposes a novel reinterpretation of quantum decoherence by framing it as a physical phase transition in probability distributions. It challenges conventional interpretations, such as the Copenhagen and many-worlds theories, which rely on the concept of wave function "collapse" driven by an external observer or measurement. Key aspects of this framework include: Observer-Independent Decoherence: The model removes the necessity of an observer, proposing that classical behavior is an emergent property of quantum complexity rather than a separate reality. The Phase Transition Mechanism: Decoherence is defined as a transition in the probability distribution of a system's wave function, triggered when interactions with external systems cross a specific threshold of complexity. Information and Energy Dynamics: The shift from quantum to classical behavior is driven by informational exchanges and energy transfers between a system and its environment. Empirical Alignment: The framework is supported by real-world examples, including buckyball double-slit experiments and superconducting qubits, which demonstrate quantum effects in macroscopic systems. Consistency with the Born Rule: This reinterpretation maintains the probabilistic outcomes of standard quantum mechanics and remains fully consistent with the Born rule. By focusing on the intrinsic properties of system interactions, this work offers a unified view where quantum mechanics governs all scales, and classical reality is a byproduct of informational complexity.