This paper conveys briefly and concisely what could be the implications of the Einstein-Bohr debate when we consider the results of Phase-Shifted EPR-Bell states from a study conducted in Maarten Hoogerland’s Lab in the Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonics and Quantum Technologies, University of Auckland, New Zealand (2018-2024). The results of this study were presented at the first Biological Physics and Meaning Mini Conference on ‘QUANTUM MECHANICS, THE MEASUREMENT PROBLEM AND HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS’ (Feb. 2024). Here, I also examine the nature of correlated pairs of photons produced by Spontaneous Parametric Down Conversion (SPDC) Type II, when the photon of one path is altered with a Quarter Wave Plate (QWP), shifting the polarization from linear to elliptical or circular. As stated in the above mentioned study, surprisingly, some of these Phase Shifted Bell states (correlated pairs) produce no violation of the Clauser, Horne, Shimony and Holt (CHSH) inequality, raising yet again a question mark on the meaning of ‘entanglement’ when understood as ‘spooky action at a distance’, in the context of the formalism of Quantum Mechanics and the different associated interpretations. If ‘spooky action at a distance’ is ruled out from physical systems and we consider new more general stochastic laws, then we open the way for a more interesting future physics on the side of Einstein and realism that, under some regimes, may manifest as nonlocality in terms of information structures. Perhaps, religious, spiritual and mystical experience (RSME) may have a place in physics and the sciences in general, as experienced information and meaning within physical restrictions in a classically consciously experienced lived life in spacetime.
This paper conveys briefly and concisely what could be the implications of the Einstein-Bohr debate when we consider the results of Phase-Shifted EPR-Bell states from a study conducted in Maarten Hoogerland’s Lab in the Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonics and Quantum Technologies, University of Auckland, New Zealand (2018-2024). The results of this study were presented at the first Biological Physics and Meaning Mini Conference on ‘QUANTUM MECHANICS, THE MEASUREMENT PROBLEM AND HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS’ (Feb. 2024). Here, I also examine the nature of correlated pairs of photons produced by Spontaneous Parametric Down Conversion (SPDC) Type II, when the photon of one path is altered with a Quarter Wave Plate (QWP), shifting the polarization from linear to elliptical or circular. As stated in the above mentioned study, surprisingly, some of these Phase Shifted Bell states (correlated pairs) produce no violation of the Clauser, Horne, Shimony and Holt (CHSH) inequality, raising yet again a question mark on the meaning of ‘entanglement’ when understood as ‘spooky action at a distance’, in the context of the formalism of Quantum Mechanics and the different associated interpretations. If ‘spooky action at a distance’ is ruled out from physical systems and we consider new more general stochastic laws, then we open the way for a more interesting future physics on the side of Einstein and realism that, under some regimes, may manifest as nonlocality in terms of information structures. Perhaps, religious, spiritual and mystical experience (RSME) may have a place in physics and the sciences in general, as experienced information and meaning within physical restrictions in a classically consciously experienced lived life in spacetime.
This work demystifies quantum paradoxes by showing that the phenomena often labeled as “spooky action” arise from unfactorizable classical local processes that lie outside the scope of Bell’s tests, indicating that the universe remains locally real and that physical states exist independently of measurement. It presents a deterministic hidden‑variable framework, relativistically compatible with quantum entanglement, based on Intrinsic Spin Momentum (ISM). In this model, spin is treated as a real internal momentum circulation with definable vector structure, phase, curvature, and acceleration. Phase‑created correlations between intrinsic spin momenta reproduce CHSH‑type values without superluminal signaling or Einstein’s so‑called “spooky action at a distance.” The Bloch sphere emerges as the geometric representation of internal spin structure, and phase alignment on this sphere provides the mechanism for entanglement correlations, demonstrating that classical unfactorizable processes can reproduce Bell‑inequality violations without breaking any known laws of physics. This stands in stark contrast to the widely publicized interpretation of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics, which claimed that Bell‑test violations imply that the universe is “not locally real.” The model generalizes naturally to higher‑spin systems, linking intrinsic spin geometry to gravitational curvature. Gravitational waves dynamically modulate intrinsic spin acceleration, offering a physical mechanism for quantum gravity that diverges worldlines through localized curvature rather than as a purely coordinate effect of spacetime geometry. This unified picture replaces “spooky action” with correlated spin geometry embedded in a dynamic relativistic spacetime. Contact: ellis.ammons1@gmail.com Keywords: Intrinsic Spin Momentum, quantum gravity, entanglement, Bloch sphere, CHSH correlations, relativity, hidden variables, gravitational waves, phase geometry, spin structure.
Spooky Action at a Distance In the context of correlation experiments involving pairs of experiments performed at very nearly the same time in very far-apart experimental regions, Einstein famously said [1], But on one supposition we should in my opinion hold absolutely fast: “The real factual situation of the system S2 is independent of what is done with system S1 which is spatially separated from the former.” This demand is incompatible with the basic ideas of standard (Copenhagen/orthodox) quantum mechanics, which makes two relevant claims: (1) Experimenters in the two labs make “local free choices” that determine which experiments will be performed in their respective labs. These choices are free in the sense of not being predetermined by the prior history of the physically described aspects of the universe, and they are localized in the sense that the physical effects of these free choices are inserted into the physically described aspects of the universe only within the laboratory in which the associated experiment is being performed. (2) These choices of what is done with the system being measured in one lab can (because of a measurement-induced global collapse of the quantum state) influence the outcome of the experiment performed at very close to the same time in the very faraway lab. This influence of what is done with the system being measured in one region upon the outcome appearing at very nearly the same time in a very faraway lab was called “spooky action at a distance” by Einstein, and was rejected by him as a possible feature of “reality.” John Bell's Quasi-classical Statistical Theory Responding to the seeming existence in the quantum world of “spooky actions,” John Bell [2] proposed a possible alternative to the standard approach that might conceivably be able to reconcile quantum spookiness with “reality.” This alternative approach rests on the fact that quantum mechanics is a statistical theory.We already have in physics a statistical theory called “classical statistical mechanics.”
This paper is a new step towards understanding why "quantum nonlocality" is a misleading concept. Metaphorically speaking, "quantum nonlocality" is Janus faced. One face is an apparent nonlocality of the Lüders projection and another face is Bell nonlocality (a wrong conclusion that the violation of Bell type inequalities implies the existence of mysterious instantaneous influences between distant physical systems). According to the Lüders projection postulate, a quantum measurement performed on one of the two distant entangled physical systems modifies their compound quantum state instantaneously. Therefore, if the quantum state is considered to be an attribute of the individual physical system and if one assumes that experimental outcomes are produced in a perfectly random way, one quickly arrives at the contradiction. It is a primary source of speculations about a spooky action at a distance. Bell nonlocality as defined above was explained and rejected by several authors; thus, we concentrate in this paper on the apparent nonlocality of the Lüders projection. As already pointed out by Einstein, the quantum paradoxes disappear if one adopts the purely statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics (QM). In the statistical interpretation of QM, if probabilities are considered to be objective properties of random experiments we show that the Lüders projection corresponds to the passage from joint probabilities describing all set of data to some marginal conditional probabilities describing some particular subsets of data. If one adopts a subjective interpretation of probabilities, such as QBism, then the Lüders projection corresponds to standard Bayesian updating of the probabilities. The latter represents degrees of beliefs of local agents about outcomes of individual measurements which are placed or which will be placed at distant locations. In both approaches, probability-transformation does not happen in the physical space, but only in the information space. Thus, all speculations about spooky interactions or spooky predictions at a distance are simply misleading. Coming back to Bell nonlocality, we recall that in a recent paper we demonstrated, using exclusively the quantum formalism, that CHSH inequalities may be violated for some quantum states only because of the incompatibility of quantum observables and Bohr's complementarity. Finally, we explain that our criticism of quantum nonlocality is in the spirit of Hertz-Boltzmann methodology of scientific theories.
It is argued that the lesson we should learn from Bell's inequalities is not that quantum mechanics requires some kind of action at a distance, but that it leads us to believe in parallel worlds. Introduction Bell's work [1] led to a revolution in our understanding of nature. I remember attending my first physics conference, on “Microphysical Reality and Quantum Formalism,” in Urbino, 1985. Most of the talks were about Aspect's experiment [2] confirming the nonlocality of quantum mechanics based on experimental violations of Bell's inequalities. Although I did not share the skepticism of many speakers regarding the results of Aspect, I was not ready to accept that a local action in one place can instantaneously change anything at another place. So, while for the majority the lesson from Bell was that quantum mechanics requires some “spooky action at a distance”, I was led by Bell's result to an alternative revolutionary change in our view of nature. I saw no other way than accepting the manyworlds interpretation (MWI) of quantum mechanics [3, 4]. I shall start by presenting the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen (EPR) [5] argument. Then I will present Bell's presented using the Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger setup [6] in the form proposed by Mermin [7, 8]. The discussion of nonlocality will suggest that Bell's inequalities are the only manifestation of action at a distance in nature. The demonstration of the necessity of action at a distance will be done through a detailed analysis of the GHZ experiment. Then I shall show how multiple worlds resolve the problem of action at a distance. After discussing the issue of nonlocality in the MWI, I shall conclude by citing Bell's views on the MWI. EPR–Bell–GHZ The story of Bell cannot be told without first describing the EPR argument. Instead of following the historical route, I shall use the GHZ setup, which, in my view, is the clearest way to explain the EPR and Bell's discovery.