Pilot-wave theory and the search for new physics

TL;DR

This paper explores how pilot-wave theory suggests potential new physics beyond quantum mechanics, with observable implications in cosmology, black hole physics, and high-energy experiments.

Contribution

It identifies three distinct ways pilot-wave theory predicts deviations from quantum mechanics that could be experimentally tested.

Findings

Possible anomalies in cosmic microwave background due to initial conditions

Potential deviations in Hawking radiation from black holes

Instability of quantum equilibrium in high-energy collisions

Abstract

We show how pilot-wave theory points to new physics, beyond quantum mechanics, in three distinct ways. First, generalised cosmological initial conditions, departing from the Born rule, can lead to observable anomalies in the cosmic microwave background and in relic cosmological particles. Second, a breakdown of the Born rule in the deep quantum-gravity regime, with gravitational corrections that render the Born rule semiclassically unstable, can create anomalies in Hawking radiation from evaporating black holes. Third, a regularised equation of motion that remains finite at nodes of the wave function generates corrections to the Born rule at short distances, while a natural time-dependent generalisation implies an instability of quantum equilibrium at short times, effects which may be observable in high-energy collisions.