Abstract

A classical local cellular automaton can describe an interacting quantum field theory for fermions. We construct a simple classical automaton for a particular version of the Thirring model with imaginary coupling. This interacting fermionic quantum field theory obeys a unitary time evolution and shows all properties of quantum mechanics. Classical cellular automata with probabilistic initial conditions admit a description in the formalism of quantum mechanics. Our model exhibits interesting features as spontaneous symmetry breaking or solitons. The same model can be formulated as a generalized Ising model. This euclidean lattice model can be investigated by standard techniques of statistical physics as Monte Carlo simulations. Our model is an example how quantum mechanics emerges from classical statistics.

Highlights

  • We present in this work a simple classical cellular automaton with homogeneous local updating that describes all features of a unitary interacting quantum field theory with Lorentz symmetry

  • While the dynamics of the updating is deterministic, the probabilistic aspects of quantum mechanics arise from probabilistic initial conditions for the automaton

  • We develop the language of a fermionic quantum field theory for this and similar cellular automata

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Summary

Wetterich Institut fur Theoretische Physik

A classical local cellular automaton can describe an interacting quantum field theory for fermions. We construct a simple classical automaton for a particular version of the Thirring model with imaginary coupling. This interacting fermionic quantum field theory obeys a unitary time evolution and shows all properties of quantum mechanics. Classical cellular automata with probabilistic initial conditions admit a description in the formalism of quantum mechanics. The same model can be formulated as a generalized Ising model. This euclidean lattice model can be investigated by standard techniques of statistical physics as Monte Carlo simulations. Our model is an example how quantum mechanics emerges from classical statistics

Introduction
Probabilistic cellular automata
Step evolution operator for fermions
Cellular automata for fermions
Generalized Ising model
Discussion
Full Text
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