This paper derives the complete mathematical structure of quantum mechanics—complex Hilbert spaces, unitary evolution, and Born-rule probabilities—from five information-theoretic axioms, without assuming quantum mechanics at the outset. Starting from an ontology of microhistories (fully specified microscopic trajectories), we define branches as equivalence classes of operationally indistinguishable microhistories. We then show that five physically motivated constraints on how information is stored, mixed, and transformed uniquely force the effective state space to be a complex projective space with unitary dynamics.
This paper derives the complete mathematical structure of quantum mechanics—complex Hilbert spaces, unitary evolution, and Born-rule probabilities—from five information-theoretic axioms, without assuming quantum mechanics at the outset. Starting from an ontology of microhistories (fully specified microscopic trajectories), we define branches as equivalence classes of operationally indistinguishable microhistories. We then show that five physically motivated constraints on how information is stored, mixed, and transformed uniquely force the effective state space to be a complex projective space with unitary dynamics.
"This paper derives the complex Hilbert space structure and Born rule of quantum mechanics from five information-theoretic axioms governing coarse-grained microhistory branches. No quantum structure is assumed; linearity, complex numbers, unitary dynamics, and Born probabilities all emerge from constraints on how operational information can be stored, transformed, and composed. The reconstruction is independent of any specific microscopic model but naturally accommodates microhistory ontologies indexed by various ordering parameters (physical time, relational clocks, scalar fields)."
Standard quantum interpretations-based on point trajectories, branching wave functions, or instantaneous projection-rely on two continuum idealizations: infinite spatial information density and infinite measurement bandwidth. A central foundational question is whether complex Hilbert-space kinematics, noncommuting observables, and single-outcome collapse follow from real physical fields under finite information capacity and bandwidth. We formulate Objective Phase-Space Quantum Information-Capacity Mechanics (QICM), specifying the state on a configuration manifold by a real probability density and a compact flow potential. Three axioms govern the theory: the first requires finite Fisher information and defines the potential on a flat circle bundle with quantized holonomy and half-period nodal jumps, resolving Wallstrom's objection; the second sets an elementary resolution quantum from the Bloch-sphere Fisher solid angle; and the third pairs Fisher localization energy with a Nyquist-Planck capacity bound in stochastic equations for closed flow and continuous measurement. On the reduced tangent space, the symplectic form, Fisher-Rao metric, and complex structure form a Kahler geometry inducing the Hermitian inner product, self-adjoint operators, and Heisenberg commutators. The axioms yield uncertainty bounds, the minimum resolution time, oscillator and hydrogen spectra, martingale Born-rule collapse, and the Lindblad equation, and extend to relativistic fields, half-integer spin, Pauli pressure, Compton-scale ultraviolet regularization, and ensemble no-signaling. QICM thus unifies unitary evolution and collapse in a single-world field dynamics without superluminal signaling, yielding testable bounds on compression times, readout horizons, and short-pulse thresholds in circuit-QED, optomechanics, and trapped ions.
Starting from the finite p-adic reduction of the Bost–Connes system and the established dynamics of matter, we give a systematic account of five axioms: quantum states, composite systems, unitary evolution, observables, and Born probabilities. Complex amplitude patterns on a finite arithmetic space, together with its normalized inner product, support pure-state and density-operator descriptions. Joint configurations of the participating degrees of freedom realize the tensor structure, while self-adjoint exchanges that balance energy and group charge generate joint unitary evolution. The full joint state retains coherence among matter, background, and auxiliaries; local mixtures arise by reducing that same state. Spectral couplings correlate the components distinguished by an observable with orthogonal records. Statistical consistency determines their Born weights, while the same instrument specifies conditional states and successive event histories. Character-based matter patterns, persistent phases, and arithmetic spectral responses give these structures their physical content. The five axioms thus connect within a common process of states, interactions, and records, providing a unified description of the evolution of matter and its observable manifestations in this framework.
This work presents a reconstruction of quantum mechanics in which Schrödinger-type dynamics emerges from reversible probabilistic evolution rather than being postulated. Starting from a normalized probability density, we impose reversible probability dynamics, Fisher information geometry, and classical correspondence. These compatibility conditions yield coupled real equations equivalent to the continuity equation and the Hamilton–Jacobi equation with an additional information curvature (quantum potential) term. By combining density and phase into a complex amplitude, the Schrödinger equation appears as a compact encoding of reversible statistical flow. The result is mathematically equivalent to the Madelung hydrodynamic formulation and structurally connected to Bohmian mechanics, but derived without assuming Hilbert space, operator axioms, or measurement postulates. The work can therefore be viewed as an information-geometric derivation of quantum dynamics: quantum theory arises as the unique consistent representation of reversible probability flow. Keywords: quantum foundations, quantum reconstruction, emergent quantum mechanics, derivation of the Schrödinger equation, information geometry, Fisher information, Hamilton–Jacobi theory, Madelung formulation, Bohmian mechanics, reversible probability dynamics
We develop a conditionally closed reconstruction of quantum mechanics from exactly three physical axioms: microscopic ontic definiteness and finite localization, physical reality of the spacetime--vacuum substrate, and persistent causal source--response coupling. Wave functions, Hilbert spaces, complex amplitudes, density operators, the Born rule, commutation relations, Fock spaces, path integrals, completely positive maps, and Markovian dynamics are introduced only as derived mathematical or operational structures, not as additional physical axioms. The construction distinguishes the actual finite carrier and its causal history from the quantum state used to represent preparations, transformations, and measurement probabilities. It derives unitary dynamics from self-adjoint Hamiltonians, formulates spectral observables and probability currents, and states the explicit equilibrium, additivity, noncontextuality, and calibration conditions required for the Born representation. Measurement is described through instruments, pointer dynamics, stable records, weak values, continuous monitoring, diffusive and counting trajectories, and operational error--disturbance relations. Quantum trajectories remain record-conditioned predictive representations rather than automatically ontic paths. Composite systems, identical particles, spin, entanglement entropy, purification, steering, Bell correlations, dense coding, and no-broadcasting are developed on declared tensor-product and symmetry domains. Open-system dynamics are formulated through causal Volterra equations, memory kernels, initial-slip terms, auxiliary-mode realizations, and unitary dilations. Existence, positivity, complete positivity, trace preservation, no-signalling, and energy closure are treated as logically distinct properties. Semiclassical pseudodifferential calculus, controlled path-integral convergence, Ehrenfest-time bounds, semiclassical measures, decoherence, and macroscopic-record stability define the quantum--classical interface. Topological phases, defect-bound states, relativistic wave equations, infrared dressing, and effective quantum-field-theory domains are incorporated with explicit applicability and error conditions. Numerical spectral certification, statistical model comparison, twenty-five benchmark models, theorem-status ledgers, and a complete experimental statistical protocol provide falsification and replication criteria. The resulting framework preserves standard quantum mechanics on its validated domain while isolating finite-core and historical corrections as conditional, quantitatively bounded, and experimentally testable extensions. **Keywords** Quantum foundations; topological quantum mechanics; historical memory; three-axiom reconstruction; Born rule; quantum measurement; weak measurement; quantum trajectories; entanglement; spin and statistics; open quantum systems; Volterra equations; semiclassical limit; quantum topology; numerical certification; experimental falsification.
Conventional quantum mechanics with a complex Hilbert space and the Born Rule is derived from five axioms describing properties of probability distributions for the outcome of measurements. Axioms I,II,III are common to quantum mechanics and hidden variable theories. Axiom IV recognizes a phenomenon, first noted by Turing and von Neumann, in which the increase in entropy resulting from a measurement is reduced by a suitable intermediate measurement. This is shown to be impossible for local hidden variable theories. Axiom IV, together with the first three, almost suffice to deduce the conventional rules but allow some exotic, alternatives such as real or quaternionic quantum mechanics. Axiom V recognizes a property of the distribution of outcomes of random measurements on qubits which holds only in the complex Hilbert space model. It is then shown that the five axioms also imply the conventional rules for all dimensions. 1