Wave–particle duality in interferometric systems is commonly formulated through complementarity relations linking fringe visibility and path distinguishability. In realistic experiments, interference suppression arises not only from unitary which-path marking but also from environment-induced decoherence. We derive an angle-dependent pure-dephasing model from a microscopic system–bath Hamiltonian, obtaining a Lindblad master equation with geometric coupling dependence. Moving beyond the Markovian limit, we utilize a second- order time-convolutionless (TCL2) expansion with a structured spectral density to show that geometric scaling persists in non-Markovian regimes, potentially leading to geometry-dependent coherence revivals. Furthermore, we explicitly derive the entropy production rate, demonstrating that the transition toward classicality is quantitatively governed by directional entropy flow. The framework remains fully within standard quantum mechanics, introducing no modifications to the Schr¨odinger equation. Experimental falsifiability criteria, including early-time scaling and coherence revivals, are presented.
Wave–particle duality in interferometric systems is commonly formulated through complementarity relations linking fringe visibility and path distinguishability. In realistic experiments, interference suppression arises not only from unitary which-path marking but also from environment-induced decoherence. We derive an angle-dependent pure-dephasing model from a microscopic system–bath Hamiltonian, obtaining a Lindblad master equation with geometric coupling dependence. Moving beyond the Markovian limit, we utilize a second- order time-convolutionless (TCL2) expansion with a structured spectral density to show that geometric scaling persists in non-Markovian regimes, potentially leading to geometry-dependent coherence revivals. Furthermore, we explicitly derive the entropy production rate, demonstrating that the transition toward classicality is quantitatively governed by directional entropy flow. The framework remains fully within standard quantum mechanics, introducing no modifications to the Schr¨odinger equation. Experimental falsifiability criteria, including early-time scaling and coherence revivals, are presented.
Decoherence is widely regarded as the physical mechanism responsible for the transition from quantum interference to classical localization . While the standard frameworksuccessfully describes environment-induced decoherence using density-matrix evolution,it does not identify a microscopic causal quantity that determines how interference suppression depends on thermodynamic conditions. In this work, we propose that decoherence can be understood as an entropy-drivenprocess arising from competition among microscopic causal paths. Within the QuantumCausal Entropy (QCE) framework, quantum amplitudes are modified by an entropyweighted causal rule, Ψ→eiθℓ−∆SℓΨ,leading to a path-amplitude formulation A[Γ] = exp(iΘΓ −SΓ).From this formulation, interference visibility is shown to depend exponentially on theentropy contrast between competing paths, producing experimentally testable predictions for thermal, material, and measurement environment dependence of interferencepatterns. We present concrete experimental proposals in which interference visibility changescan be measured without modifying phase geometry, allowing a direct test distinguishing entropy-driven decoherence from conventional models. These results suggest thatentropy flow plays a fundamental role in quantum measurement dynamics and coherence loss.
We derive a generalized wave-particle duality relation for arbitrary multipath quantum interference phenomena. Beyond the conventional notion of the wave nature of a quantum system, i.e., the interference fringe visibility, we introduce a quantifier as the normalized quantum coherence, recently defined in the framework of quantum information theory. To witness the particle nature, we quantify the path distinguishability or the which-path information based on unambiguous quantum state discrimination. Then, the Bohr complementarity principle for multipath quantum interference can be stated as a duality relation between the quantum coherence and the path distinguishability. For two-path interference, the quantum coherence is identical to the interference fringe visibility, and the relation reduces to the well-known complementarity relation. The duality relation continues to hold in the case where mixedness is introduced due to possible decoherence effects.
We propose a Quantum Causal Entropy (QCE) framework in which microscopic entropy increments associated with individual causal links modify the Feynman path amplitude through an exponential weighting factor exp(−SΓ). This entropy-weighted path integral provides a dynamical mechanism for wave–particle duality and interference suppression. The entropy contrast parameter is generalized to multi-path systems, and the Born-rule structure emerges in the regime of distinguishable outcomes. We show that environmental decoherence appears as the macroscopic limit of cumulative causal entropy growth. Aquantitative prediction for thermally asymmetric interference experiments is derived.
Description: This study provides a testable geometric origin explanation for wave-particle duality in quantum mechanics, starting from first principles of discrete geometry. Core Scientific Question While the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics can precisely predict experimental phenomena such as double-slit interference, the physical origin of wave-particle duality itself has long been treated as a fundamental axiom, lacking deeper explanation. This work attempts to answer: Could quantum phenomena arise from the collective statistical behavior of more fundamental discrete geometric structures? Theoretical Framework Based on a recently developed discrete geometry framework, we regard continuous spacetime as emerging from the topological gluing and recursive folding of Cantor sets. This geometric construction naturally leads to defect structures carrying intrinsic degrees of freedom, whose statistical fluctuations manifest as random noise accompanying the geometric phase field. The two-point correlation of the noise characterizes thermalization information, while higher-order correlations carry non-Gaussian information and long-term memory. Core Predictions For the double-slit interference experiment, we derive a coherence evolution formula and make three directly testable predictions: First, even under strong which-path measurement, interference fringes will exhibit residual visibility due to contributions from higher-order noise correlations, with magnitude between one-thousandth and one-hundredth. This stands in sharp contrast to the complete disappearance predicted by standard decoherence theory. Second, the decoherence process exhibits biexponential behavior, with fast and slow time scales whose ratio ranges from one hundred to one thousand. Third, path information and interference visibility satisfy a specific conservation relation, reflecting the intrinsic constraints on information transformation in discrete geometry. Experimental Proposal We propose a quantum optics experiment using squeezed light to test these predictions. The scheme employs nano-fabricated double slits and single-photon sources with tunable statistical properties, directly verifying the physical effects of higher-order correlations by comparing interference visibility differences between squeezed and coherent light sources. Current single-photon source technology already possesses the capability to resolve the required precision. Scientific Significance If the predictions are confirmed, this would for the first time experimentally establish quantum phenomena as collective statistical manifestations of discrete geometric structures, providing a geometric origin explanation for the Heisenberg uncertainty principle and an objective, consciousness-free mechanism for wavefunction collapse. Furthermore, this would provide tabletop experimental evidence for Planck-scale spacetime discreteness, building a bridge between quantum foundations and cosmological information research. If falsified, this would constrain microscopic parameters in the theory, pushing the model toward more complex colored noise generalizations. 描述: 本研究从离散几何的第一原理出发,为量子力学中的波粒二象性提供了一个可检验的几何起源解释。 核心科学问题 量子力学的数学形式主义能够精确预测双缝干涉等实验现象,但波粒二象性本身的物理起源长期被视为基本公理,缺乏更深层次的解释。本工作试图回答:量子现象是否可能源于更基本的离散几何结构的集体统计行为? 理论框架 基于近期发展的离散几何框架,我们将连续时空视为从康托尔集的拓扑粘合与递归折叠中涌现的结果。这一几何构建自然导出了带有内禀自由度的缺陷结构,其统计涨落表现为伴随几何相场的随机噪声。噪声的两点关联刻画热化信息,而高阶关联则携带非高斯信息和长期记忆。 核心预言 针对双缝干涉实验,我们推导了相干度演化公式,并作出三个可直接检验的预言: 第一,即使在强路径测量下,由于噪声高阶关联的贡献,干涉条纹仍将存在残余可见度,其量级在千分之一到百分之一之间。这与标准退相干理论预言的完全消失形成鲜明对比。 第二,退相干过程呈现双指数行为,存在快慢两个时间尺度,其比值在百倍到千倍之间。 第三,路径信息与干涉可见度满足特定的守恒关系,反映了离散几何中信息转化的内在约束。 实验方案 我们提出了一个基于压缩态光的量子光学实验方案来检验上述预言。该方案利用纳米加工双缝和可调统计性质的单光子源,通过比较压缩态与相干态光源的干涉可见度差异,直接验证高阶关联的物理效应。当前单光子源技术已具备分辨所需精度的能力。 科学意义 若预言被证实,将首次从实验上确立量子现象是离散几何结构的集体统计表现,为海森堡不确定性原理提供几何起源解释,并为波函数坍缩提供无需意识的客观机制。同时,这将为普朗克尺度的时空离散性提供桌面实验证据,架起量子基础与宇宙学信息研究的桥梁。若被证伪,则将约束理论中的微观参数,推动模型向更复杂的有色噪声方向拓展。
Standard quantum mechanics describes the evolution of physical systems through unitary Schr¨odinger dynamics, while decoherence and wavefunction collapse are introduced through additional postulates or environmental interactions. Although highly successful operationally, the theory does not provide a fundamental dynamical mechanism explaining the emergence of classical localization from microscopic evolution. n this work we propose an entropy-weighted causal dynamics framework, referred to as Quantum Causal Entropy (QCE), in which each microscopic causal transition contributes both a phase increment and an entropy cost. Starting from a local causal update rule, Ψ → eiθℓ−∆SℓΨ, we derive a modified evolution equation in which the standard Hamiltonian generator is supplemented by an entropy-production operator. The resulting entropy-corrected Schr¨odinger equation takes the form iℏ dΨ dt =H − iℏλSˆΨ, where Sˆ represents the entropy rate associated with microscopic causal processes and λ is an entropy coupling constant. We show that the standard unitary Schr¨odinger evolution is recovered in the limit of vanishing entropy coupling, while finite entropy production leads naturally to decoherence, interference suppression, and effective measurement localization without invoking an explicit collapse postulate. A corresponding density-matrix evolution equation is derived, providing a thermodynamic description of coherence decay. The framework therefore provides a dynamical link between quantum evolution, information entropy, and emergent classicality, and suggests experimentally testable corrections to coherence behavior in controlled quantum systems
Wave-particle duality remains one of the most striking and conceptually unresolved features of quantum mechanics. Here I present a dynamical mechanism for wave-particle duality based on spontaneous stochastic mass-energy interconversion at subatomic scales. By promoting particle mass to a fluctuating quantity consistent with Einstein’s mass-energy equivalence, I derive a Schrödinger equation with an additional stochastic kinetic-phase term. Applied to the canonical double-slit experiment, the framework shows that quantum interference arises from coherent, path-dependent phase accumulation driven by mass-energy fluctuations, while particle-like localization emerges naturally at detection. The formalism yields closed-form expressions for interference visibility, predicts a momentum- and mass-dependent decoherence rate, admits a path-integral interpretation, and enables direct experimental bounds using neutron, electron, and atom interferometry. The results provide a physically grounded account of wave-particle duality without modifying the axioms of quantum mechanics.