Digital Quantum Reality

In a previous post , we have discovered that quantum mechanics can described equivalently to standard approaches, and in particular Bell's inequalities  can be violated in a Bell test with momentum-entangled pairs of particles, despite making use of local realist assumptions. However, it is a fact that Bell's theorem and its descendants are regularly used to dismiss any possibility that a local-realist quantum mechanical model could even exist. John Stewart Bell (1928-1990) How happens that our local-realist model captures BI violations and correctly reproduces QM statistics? How to solve this apparent paradox? Despite its mathematical simplicity, interpretation of Bell's theorem has given rise to a vast literature, in particular concerning its assumptions and the conclusions that can be drawn. The usual assumptions used in deriving Bell inequalities are realism (properties of physical systems are elements of reality, outcomes of tests are determined by some hidde...

Within our search for a local-realist description of quantum mechanics, two recent posts have discussed the local-realist rules of motion for particle pairs that are entangled in momentum and how position probability distributions are built upon. We want now to describe a scenario for which these rules allow to retrieve typical quantum correlations between the two particles, which ultimately lead to violations of Bell's inequalities as predicted for QM by Bell's theorem . The scenario consists of a two-slit interferometer, as depicted in the figure. This setting is equivalent to the double-source preparation discussed in the aforementioned posts. The two 'sources' are equally probable and the phase difference at each station is ε (I) = α, ε (II) = β. The detectors are placed at positions x ±  = ±t/(4D), where δ = 2D is the distance between the two slits, a parameter of the stations. In the case of a single station active, with particles emitted ...

When I submitted my manuscript to the journal Foundations of Physics , one of the referees was pointing out that The positive model developed in this manuscript represents a lot of careful work, and exhibits a solid grasp on the foundational literature. To my mind, the fatal flaw is the failure to discuss multiparticle systems. It's a fatal flaw because the paper purports to develop a local realistic model of quantum phenomena. Well-known impediments to the empirical adequacy of such models (e.g. the Bell inequalities ) arise in the presence of entanglement between particles. A revised version of the paper that shows how the model recovers standard QM's prediction of the violation of Bell-type inequalities would make a much stronger case that the model is worth taking seriously. (Such a recovery needn't entail extending the model to incorporate spin phenomena: the Bell-correlated observables needn't be spin observables.) [bold mine] I therefore started incorporatin...