Nonlinear gauge interactions: a possible solution to the "measurement problem" in quantum mechanics

TL;DR

This paper proposes that nonlinearities in nonabelian gauge interactions could simultaneously solve the quantum measurement problem and the quantization of nonlinear gauge theories, suggesting a unified approach without introducing new elements.

Contribution

It introduces a novel idea linking gauge nonlinearities to wave function collapse, offering a potential unified solution to two fundamental physics problems without new theoretical components.

Findings

Electrons have finite coherence lengths in double-slit experiments.

Photons exhibit much longer or infinite coherence lengths.

The model suggests measurable differences in coherence lengths for electrons and photons.

Abstract

Two fundamental, and unsolved problems in physics are: i) the resolution of the "measurement problem" in quantum mechanics ii) the quantization of strongly nonlinear (nonabelian) gauge theories. The aim of this paper is to suggest that these two problems might be linked, and that a mutual, simultaneous solution to both might exist. We propose that the mechanism responsible for the "collapse of the wave function" in quantum mechanics is the nonlinearities already present in the theory via nonabelian gauge interactions. Unlike all other models of spontaneous collapse, our proposal is, to the best of our knowledge, the only one which does not introduce any new elements into the theory. A possible experimental test of the model would be to compare the coherence lengths - here defined as the distance over which quantum mechanical superposition is still valid - for, \textit{e.g}, electrons and photons in a double-slit experiment. The electrons should have a finite coherence length, while photons should have a much longer coherence length (in principle infinite, if gravity - a very weak effect indeed unless we approach the Planck scale - is ignored).