Digital Quantum Reality

One of the classical textbook example that is used to illustrate quantum effects is certainly the particle in a box scenario. In this idealized case, a particle confined between two infinite potential barriers may only occupy certain energy levels . People say that the energy is quantized in this case. This scenario is very naturally represented in the local-realistic model of QM we are supporting throughout this blog. In an earlier post , we have anticipated that the key role to model the particle in a box is played by the External Reset condition, discussed here . An ER is activated whenever a particle (in an ensemble of similarly-prepared particles) captures an external "boson", i.e., experiences an external force. In our scenario, this means each time the particle hits one of the barriers. At an ER, the particle span (a memory of the distance traveled) changes sign. The effect is the same as if the particle had been emitted from a virtual source located at the other s...

This blog is aimed at discussing how quantum mechanics can be modeled in a local and realistic way. In a recent post , we have introduced the external force fields in the (one-dimensional, so far) model. The key roles in this respect are played by the external bosons and the External reset . The latter rule is activated each time an external boson is captured (i.e., each time an external force is experienced) and resets the particle's span (a counter carried on by each particle representing the space it has traveled since the source) to its inverse. With quadratic or other continuous potentials , where we have assumed that an external boson is captured at each iteration (a continuous effective momentum transfer conveniently incorporates the probability of actually finding an external boson), the ER rule plays no role. Also, as discussed in this post , quantum forces cannot be induced by continuous potentials only, since no span differences between successive particles of the ...