Discrete Quantum Theory Research Articles

Smooth extensions of black holes in loop quantum gravity

Vacuum spherically symmetric loop quantum gravity in the midi-superspace approximation using inhomogeneous horizon-penetrating slices has been studied for a decade, and it has been noted that the singularity is eliminated. It is replaced by a region of high curvature and potentially large quantum fluctuations. It was recently pointed out that the effective semiclassical metric implies the existence of a shell of matter which violates energy conditions in regions where the curvature is largest. Here, we propose an alternative way of treating the problem that is free from the shells. The ambiguity in the treatment is related with the existence of new observables in the quantum theory that characterize the area excitations, and how the counterpart of diffeomorphisms in the discrete quantum theory is mapped to the continuum semiclassical picture. The resulting spacetime in the high curvature region inside the horizon is approximated by a metric of the type of the Simpson–Visser wormhole and it connects the black hole interior to a white hole in a smooth manner.

Special relativity in a discrete quantum universe

The hypothesis of a discrete fabric of the universe--the "Planck scale"--is always on stage, since it solves mathematical and conceptual problems in the infinitely small. However, it clashes with special relativity, which is designed for the continuum. Here we show how the clash can be overcome within a discrete quantum theory where the evolution of fields is described by a quantum cellular automaton. The reconciliation is achieved by defining the change of observer as a change of representation of the dynamics, without any reference to space-time. We use the relativity principle, i.e. the invariance of dynamics under change of inertial observer, to identify a change of inertial frame with a symmetry of the dynamics. We consider the full group of such symmetries, and recover the usual Lorentz group in the relativistic regime of low energies, while at the Planck scale the covariance is nonlinearly distorted.

QUANTUM SYSTEMS BASED UPON GALOIS FIELDS — FROM SUB-QUANTUM TO SUPER-QUANTUM CORRELATIONS

In this paper, we describe our recent work on discrete quantum theory based on Galois fields. In particular, we discuss how discrete quantum theory sheds new light on the foundations of quantum theory and we review an explicit model of super-quantum correlations we have constructed in this context. We also discuss the larger questions of the origins and foundations of quantum theory, as well as the relevance of super-quantum theory for the quantum theory of gravity.

The operator tensor formulation of quantum theory

In this paper, we provide what might be regarded as a manifestly covariant presentation of discrete quantum theory. A typical quantum experiment has a bunch of apparatuses placed so that quantum systems can pass between them. We regard each use of an apparatus, along with some given outcome on the apparatus (a certain detector click or a certain meter reading for example), as an operation. An operation (e.g. B(b(2)a(3))(a(1))) can have zero or more quantum systems inputted into it and zero or more quantum systems outputted from it. The operation B(b(2)a(3))(a(1)) has one system of type a inputted, and one system of type b and one system of type a outputted. We can wire together operations to form circuits, for example, A(a(1))B(b(2)a(3))(a(1))C(b(2)a(3)). Each repeated integer label here denotes a wire connecting an output to an input of the same type. As each operation in a circuit has an outcome associated with it, a circuit represents a set of outcomes that can happen in a run of the experiment. In the operator tensor formulation of quantum theory, each operation corresponds to an operator tensor. For example, the operation B(b(2)a(3))(a(1)) corresponds to the operator tensor B(b(2)a(3))(a(1)). Further, the probability for a general circuit is given by replacing operations with corresponding operator tensors as in Prob(A(a(1))B(b(2)a(3))(a(1))C(b(2)a(3))) = Â(a(1))B(b(2)a(3))(a(1))C(b(2)a(3)). Repeated integer labels indicate that we multiply in the associated subspace and then take the partial trace over that subspace. Operator tensors must be physical (namely, they must have positive input transpose and satisfy a certain normalization condition).

One more variant of discrete gravity having “naive” continuum limit

Some variant of discrete quantum theory of gravity having “naive” continuum limit is constructed. It is shown that in a highly compressed state of universe a sort of “high-temperature expansion” is valid and, thus, the confinement of “color” takes place at early stage of universe expansion. In the considered theory any nontrivial representation of the local Lorentz group (i.e., spinor, vector and so on fields) play the role of color. The arguments are given in favor of a significant noncompact packing of quantized field modes in momentum space.

Testing discrete quantum mechanics using neutron interferometry and the superposition principle?Agedanken experiment

Using a neutron interferometer and the phase difference calculated from spatial discrete quantum mechanics, a test for discrete quantum theory may implemented by measuring the X spin polarization and its variation with position.

Quantum sets and clifford algebras

The mathematical language presently used for quantum physics is a high-level language. As a lowest-level or basic language I construct a quantum set theory in three stages: (1) Classical set theory, formulated as a Clifford algebra of “S numbers” generated by a single monadic operation, “bracing,” Br = {…}. (2) Indefinite set theory, a modification of set theory dealing with the modal logical concept of possibility. (3) Quantum set theory. The quantum set is constructed from the null set by the familiar quantum techniques of tensor product and antisymmetrization. There are both a Clifford and a Grassmann algebra with sets as basis elements. Rank and cardinality operators are analogous to Schroedinger coordinates of the theory, in that they are multiplication or “Q-type” operators. “P-type” operators analogous to Schroedinger momenta, in that they transform theQ-type quantities, are bracing (Br), Clifford multiplication by a setX, and the creator ofX, represented by Grassmann multiplicationc(X) by the setX. Br and its adjoint Br* form a Bose-Einstein canonical pair, andc(X) and its adjointc(X)* form a Fermi-Dirac or anticanonical pair. Many coefficient number systems can be employed in this quantization. I use the integers for a discrete quantum theory, with the usual complex quantum theory as limit. Quantum set theory may be applied to a quantum time space and a quantum automaton.

On geometric ideas which lie at the foundation of quantum theory

Part I advances the hypothesis that between any two events on the world-line of a particle there can be at most finitely many intermediate events. From this it draws the conclusion that the space-time coordinates of events do not have precise meanings. Part II modifies the Feynman integral in a way which is analogous to the replacement of white noise by Gaussian noise. It thereby obtains a version of the quantum mechanics for a nonrelativistic particle in a potential. In the new discrete quantum theory, space coordinates have probabilistic rather than precise meanings; the energy of a free particle is a bounded operator; and the potential energy is a compact operator. It is argued that the differential scattering cross section for elastic scattering is unchanged when taken in the Born approximation.