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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.09684 |
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| _version_ | 1866916962183938048 |
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| author | Scherer, Matheus V. Ribeiro, Alexandre D. Angelo, Renato M. |
| author_facet | Scherer, Matheus V. Ribeiro, Alexandre D. Angelo, Renato M. |
| contents | It is notorious that quantum mechanics cannot predict well-defined values for all physical quantities. Less well-known, however, is the fact that quantum mechanics is unable to furnish -- without additional assumptions -- probabilistic predictions even in emblematic scenarios such as the double-slit experiment. In contrast, trajectory-equipped theories naturally have more predictive power. This work formalizes the aforementioned assertions and illustrates them through three case studies: (i) free particle, (ii) free fall under a uniform gravitational field, and (iii) the double-slit experiment. Specifically, we introduce a prescription for constructing an arrival-time probability distribution within generic trajectory-equipped theories and then derive a conditional probability distribution that is unreachable by quantum mechanics. Our results can, in principle, be tested experimentally, thereby assessing the validity of trajectory-based determinism without the need for experiments involving the direct measurement of arrival time. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_09684 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Testing trajectory-based determinism via time probability distributions Scherer, Matheus V. Ribeiro, Alexandre D. Angelo, Renato M. Quantum Physics It is notorious that quantum mechanics cannot predict well-defined values for all physical quantities. Less well-known, however, is the fact that quantum mechanics is unable to furnish -- without additional assumptions -- probabilistic predictions even in emblematic scenarios such as the double-slit experiment. In contrast, trajectory-equipped theories naturally have more predictive power. This work formalizes the aforementioned assertions and illustrates them through three case studies: (i) free particle, (ii) free fall under a uniform gravitational field, and (iii) the double-slit experiment. Specifically, we introduce a prescription for constructing an arrival-time probability distribution within generic trajectory-equipped theories and then derive a conditional probability distribution that is unreachable by quantum mechanics. Our results can, in principle, be tested experimentally, thereby assessing the validity of trajectory-based determinism without the need for experiments involving the direct measurement of arrival time. |
| title | Testing trajectory-based determinism via time probability distributions |
| topic | Quantum Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.09684 |