Testing super-deterministic hidden variables theories

TL;DR

This paper proposes an experimental approach to test super-deterministic hidden variables theories by measuring correlations in consecutive non-commuting quantum measurements, potentially revealing deviations from standard quantum mechanics.

Contribution

It introduces a method to experimentally distinguish super-deterministic hidden variables theories from standard quantum mechanics through correlation measurements.

Findings

Correlation times are too short in macroscopic experiments to detect super-deterministic effects.

A specially designed microscopic experiment could potentially observe super-deterministic modifications.

The approach provides a new way to test fundamental interpretations of quantum mechanics.

Abstract

We propose to experimentally test non-deterministic time evolution in quantum mechanics by consecutive measurements of non-commuting observables on the same prepared state. While in the standard theory the measurement outcomes are uncorrelated, in a super-deterministic hidden variables theory the measurements would be correlated. We estimate that for macroscopic experiments the correlation time is too short to have been noticed yet, but that it may be possible with a suitably designed microscopic experiment to reach a parameter range where one would expect a super-deterministic modification of quantum mechanics to become relevant.