Stochastic field dynamics in models of spontaneous unitarity violation

Abstract

Objective collapse theories propose a solution to the quantum measurement problem by predicting deviations from Schrödinger’s equation that can be tested experimentally. A class of objective theories based on spontaneous unitarity violation was recently introduced, in which the stochastic field required for obtaining Born’s rule does not depend on the state of the system being measured. Here, we classify possible models for the stochastic field dynamics in theories of spontaneous unitarity violation. We show that for correlated stochastic dynamics, the field must be defined on a closed manifold. In two or more dimensions, it is then always possible to find stochastic dynamics yielding Born’s rule, independent of the state being measured or the correlation time of the stochastic field. We show that the models defined this way are all isomorphic to the definition on a two-sphere, which we propose to be a minimal physical model for the stochastic field in models of spontaneous unitarity violation.