HackerPapers

arXiv:1405.1548quant-ph

The Cellular Automaton Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

Gerard 't Hooft

Abstract

When investigating theories at the tiniest conceivable scales in nature, almost all researchers today revert to the quantum language, accepting the verdict from the Copenhagen doctrine that the only way to describe what is going on will always involve states in Hilbert space, controlled by operator equations. Returning to classical, that is, non quantum mechanical, descriptions will be forever impossible, unless one accepts some extremely contrived theoretical constructions that may or may not reproduce the quantum mechanical phenomena observed in experiments. Dissatisfied, this author investigated how one can look at things differently. This book is an overview of older material, but also contains many new observations and calculations. Quantum mechanics is looked upon as a tool, not as a theory. Examples are displayed of models that are classical in essence, but can be analysed by the use of quantum techniques, and we argue that even the Standard Model, together with gravitational interactions, might be viewed as a quantum mechanical approach to analyse a system that could be classical at its core. We explain how such thoughts can conceivably be reconciled with Bell's theorem, and how the usual objections voiced against the notion of `superdeterminism' can be overcome, at least in principle. Our proposal would eradicate the collapse problem and the measurement problem. Even the existence of an "arrow of time" can perhaps be explained in a more elegant way than usual. Discussions added in v3: the role of the gravitational force, a mathematical physics definition of free will, and an unconventional view on the arrow of time, amongst others.

arXiv comments
259 pages, 21 figures. Thoroughly rewritten version
Journal reference
DOI
Subjects
quant-phQuantum Physics

On Hacker News

Linked by 12 identifiable commenters in 19 comments across 15 threads, from Jun 2014 to Jul 2022. Found in 1 HN submission from Jul 2016 to Jul 2016. Open submission discussions.

Comments linking this paper, per year.

Discussed in comments15 threads

  1. Einstein-Bohr debate settled once and for all 1 comment

    • Regarding global conspiracy: "Explicit construction of Local Hidden Variables for any quantum theory up to any desired accuracy" https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.04335 Regarding unfalsifiable, from [0] "If engineers ever succeed in making such quantum computers, it seems to me that…

      miltondtsView on HNParent context

  2. Einstein's description of gravity just got much harder to beat 1 comment

    • > Just because he does not say explicitly "[GR and QM] are compatible", does not mean opposite. It also doesn't mean what you are claiming. To have a meaningful discussion about the incompatibility of GR with QM, you first need to know how they are incompatible. Reproducing…

      T-AView on HNParent context

  3. The Wolfram Physics Project 2 comments

    • This is absolutely fascinating. Even just a demonstration that rule application on hypergraphs is expressive enough to potentially describe (for some rule yet to be found) Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity is incredibly exciting in my opinion. Arguably string theory is in…

      zakkView on HNParent context

    • I'm not sure if that is the case or not but if that is the prediction then they are in good company. Nobel laureate Gerard 't Hooft also has a cellular automaton theory and one of his conclusions is: "If engineers ever succeed in making such quantum computers, it seems to me…

      miltondtsView on HNParent context

  4. Superdeterminism may help us overcome the current crisis in physics 3 comments

    • Funny, a couple of days ago I googled about superdeterminism again to see if there are any developments and came across Hossenfelder's and Palmer's paper on arxiv https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.06462 . Strangely enough, even though I've studied theoretical Physics, the fact that…

      GrieverheartView on HNParent context

    • The kind of superdeterministic theories proposed by t'Hooft are falsifiable. From [0] "If engineers ever succeed in making such quantum computers, it seems to me that the CAT is falsified; no classical theory can explain quantum mechanics." By "such quantum computers" he means…

      miltondtsView on HNParent context

    • This is very exciting. To a computer scientist, superdeterminism seems like the most elegant solution to most of the current problems in physics. But it has always been firmly out of the mainstream, perhaps because it runs directly counter to our human experience. Gerard…

      skoschView on HNParent context

  5. I’m Convinced We Found Evidence of Life on Mars in the 1970s 1 comment

    • I think you'd probably be interested in Gerard 't Hooft's latest work: https://arxiv.org/abs/1405.1548 It's rather, shall we say, controversial (that is: widely rejected by his peers), but it's an attempt to construct a framework through which the laws of the universe can be…

      not_kurt_godelView on HNParent context

  6. Wolfram Rule 30 Prizes 1 comment

    • I think SW became too obsessed with the mathematical and computational approach to CA, while (as usual) 't Hooft pursued his physics intuitions to create a candidate CA theory: https://arxiv.org/abs/1405.1548 I say as usual, because G'tH had already formulated the holographic…

      mikhailfrancoView on HNParent context

  7. Arrow of time and its reversal on IBM quantum computer (2018) 1 comment

    • From [0] "If engineers ever succeed in making such quantum computers, it seems to me that the CAT is falsified; no classical theory can explain quantum mechanics." By "such quantum computers" he means computers that can run Shor's algorithm. "...but factoring a number with…

      miltondtsView on HNParent context

  8. Photons, Quasars and the Possibility of Free Will 1 comment

    • > I think it's a boring theory that doesn't pass Ockham's razor. For the universe to be superdeterministic you'd have to encode its whole evolution somewhere The Cellular Automaton Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, by 't Hooft https://arxiv.org/abs/1405.1548

      naaskingView on HNParent context

  9. Can retrocausality solve the puzzle of action at a distance? 1 comment

    • https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.4.2017071... https://arxiv.org/abs/1405.1548

      T-AView on HNParent context

  10. What Is Mathematics and What Should It Be? [pdf] 1 comment

    • Then read "The Cellular Automaton Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics" by Gerard 't Hooft (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_%27t_Hooft), which tries to formulate a superdeterministic version of quantum mechanics based on cellular automata (i.e. much more discrete): >…

      wolfgkeView on HNParent context

  11. A Computer Scientist’s View of Life, the Universe, and Everything (1999) 1 comment

    • That's really cool. I see how you sort of built in decay through age. I think the golden information principles for emergent life are easier to find than biological ones, but of course the requirements of space, time, etc are much larger when ones' simulation is at a lower level…

      goldenkeyView on HNParent context

  12. Fake Physics 1 comment

    • > With quantum computing there are also no real signs that a quantum computer will beat a "classical" computer at anything any time soon. It always was and still is very difficult to get quantum systems to scale and you need a large enough system to make a difference and it may…

      wolfgkeView on HNParent context

  13. The Trouble with Quantum Mechanics 2 comments

    • Relevant for those who are interested in the topic: Two rather unusual interpretations if quantum mechanics: - De Brogle-Bohm theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Broglie%E2%80%93Bohm_theory - Gerard 't Hooft - The Cellular Automaton Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics…

      wolfgkeView on HNParent context

    • Actually the kind of superdeterministic theories proposed by t'Hooft are falsifiable. From [0] "If engineers ever succeed in making such quantum computers, it seems to me that the CAT is falsified; no classical theory can explain quantum mechanics." By "such quantum computers"…

      miltondtsView on HNParent context

  14. What If Time Really Exists? (2008) 1 comment

    • Check out arXiv:1405.1548v3 The Cellular Automaton Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics Gerard ’t Hooft The author is very far from a crank, too, being one of the most important influences in the Standard Model...

      xorxornopView on HNParent context

  15. Fluid Tests Hint at Concrete Quantum Reality 1 comment

    • I agree that progress in experimental abilities and QC is really forcing physicists to think carefully about what QM means. In fact the month of May saw three papers by major physicists about these deeper issues in QM [1,2,3] In my own humble capacity as a graduate student in…

      abdullahkhalidsView on HNParent context

Submitted to Hacker News

Connected through shared HN threads, not inferred similarity or a recommendation.