Can Quantum Field Theory be Recovered from Time-Symmetric Stochastic Mechanics? Part II: Prospects for a Trajectory Interpretation
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| author | Friederich, Simon Tyagi, Mritunjay |
| author_facet | Friederich, Simon Tyagi, Mritunjay |
| contents | In a companion paper we derived a unique time-reversal-invariant stochastic generalization of the Liouville equation and showed that it coincides with the evolution equation for the Husimi $Q$-function in a broad class of bosonic quantum field theories. Here we investigate the prospects for interpreting that evolution equation in terms of underlying stochastic trajectories. Drawing on Drummond's time-symmetric stochastic action formalism, we show that the traceless diffusion Fokker-Planck equation defines a natural measure over stochastic trajectories conditional on mixed-time boundary conditions. However, we identify a significant gap: it has not been established that every $Q$-function can be represented as a weighted average of these conditional probabilities over boundary values. The trajectory interpretation holds for ensembles with fixed boundary conditions but does not straightforwardly extend to arbitrary quantum states. Despite this limitation, we show that Drummond's trajectory dynamics are fundamentally non-Markovian -- a natural consequence of combining stochasticity with time-reversal invariance. This non-Markovianity places the dynamics outside the scope of the ontological models framework and thereby explains why the major no-go theorems for hidden-variable theories do not rule out the approach. These results clarify both the achievements and the remaining challenges in the project of understanding quantum field theory as the statistical mechanics of time-symmetric stochastic processes. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_28983 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Can Quantum Field Theory be Recovered from Time-Symmetric Stochastic Mechanics? Part II: Prospects for a Trajectory Interpretation Friederich, Simon Tyagi, Mritunjay Quantum Physics History and Philosophy of Physics In a companion paper we derived a unique time-reversal-invariant stochastic generalization of the Liouville equation and showed that it coincides with the evolution equation for the Husimi $Q$-function in a broad class of bosonic quantum field theories. Here we investigate the prospects for interpreting that evolution equation in terms of underlying stochastic trajectories. Drawing on Drummond's time-symmetric stochastic action formalism, we show that the traceless diffusion Fokker-Planck equation defines a natural measure over stochastic trajectories conditional on mixed-time boundary conditions. However, we identify a significant gap: it has not been established that every $Q$-function can be represented as a weighted average of these conditional probabilities over boundary values. The trajectory interpretation holds for ensembles with fixed boundary conditions but does not straightforwardly extend to arbitrary quantum states. Despite this limitation, we show that Drummond's trajectory dynamics are fundamentally non-Markovian -- a natural consequence of combining stochasticity with time-reversal invariance. This non-Markovianity places the dynamics outside the scope of the ontological models framework and thereby explains why the major no-go theorems for hidden-variable theories do not rule out the approach. These results clarify both the achievements and the remaining challenges in the project of understanding quantum field theory as the statistical mechanics of time-symmetric stochastic processes. |
| title | Can Quantum Field Theory be Recovered from Time-Symmetric Stochastic Mechanics? Part II: Prospects for a Trajectory Interpretation |
| topic | Quantum Physics History and Philosophy of Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.28983 |