A new interpretation of superposition, entanglement, and measurement in quantum mechanics

TL;DR

This paper proposes a deterministic cyclic structure for the wave function at sub-Planck scales, offering a new interpretation of superposition, entanglement, and measurement in quantum mechanics, emphasizing a finite-interval measurement mechanism.

Contribution

It introduces a novel interpretation of quantum phenomena based on a deterministic cyclic wave function structure and a finite-interval measurement process.

Findings

Wave function has a deterministic cyclic structure at sub-Planck scale

Measurement acts instantaneously with a randomly chosen time within a finite interval

Wave function collapses irreversibly upon measurement, erasing some quantum information

Abstract

We present a new interpretation of the terms superposition, entanglement, and measurement that appear in quantum mechanics. We hypothesize that the structure of the wave function for a quantum system at the sub-Planck scale has a deterministic cyclic structure. Each cycle comprises a sequential succession of the eigenstates that comprise a given wave function. Between unitary operations or measurements on the wave function, the sequential arrangement of the current eigenstates chosen by the system is immaterial, but once chosen it remains fixed until another unitary operation or measurement changes the wave function. The probabilistic aspect of quantum mechanics is interpreted by hypothesizing a measurement mechanism which acts instantaneously but the instant of measurement is chosen randomly by the classical measuring apparatus over a small but finite interval from the time the measurement apparatus is activated. At the instant the measurement is made, the wave function irrevocably collapses to a new state (erasing some of the past quantum information) and continues from thereon in that state till changed by a unitary operation or a new measurement.