Essay Abstract

Quantum Mechanics claims that particles can become entangled such that there is a correlation in the detected results from EPR type experiments that cannot be explained by Classical Physics. This paper shows that the result can be fully explained by Classical Physics, and that the correlation curve for different angles between the two detectors can by reproduced when modeled this way. The model can even explain the results of the most recent supposed loophole-free Quantum Steering experiments - giving a clear violation of the Steering Inequality.

Author Bio

Declan Traill is a Scientist and Software Engineer with a Science degree from the University of Melbourne in Australia. He has been actively publishing Theoretical Physics papers and contributing to various Physics discussion groups and forums for 20 years. He is interested in re-constructing both Relativity and Quantum Mechanics into a Classical framework that can be understood and visualized using a universal set of principles. The foundations of this framework were layed out in his 2012 FQXi essay titled "A Classical Reconstruction of Relativity" based on work done since 1998 on a new theory named "Energy Field Theory".

Download Essay PDF File

Declan,

This is an interesting result and the graphics are very easy to understand and compare with the EPR result. I'm glad you've found a way to apply you programming background to a difficult problem in Physics.

I have thought that the problem with Alice and Bob and EPR might be sampling ... namely that the measured results only represent a small fraction of all the atoms or photons that the experiment produces. And hence what we actually see is a distorted dataset and hence distorted conclusions.

You should expect to receive a lot of pushback.

Best Regards,

Gary Simpson

    Thanks Gary,

    I am only reporting the facts that I have found.

    Facts in Science should be welcomed, not opposed.

    Good luck with your essay...

    Regards,

    Declan

    Hi Declan, your entry is not really an essay, and not really addressing the topic of the competition. Looks like you are taking an opportunity to present your report and get some feedback on it.I understand from the end of the piece that you are thinking of security concerns. Hopefully you will find some interested, knowledgeable readers who will take the time to evaluate it. Kind regards Georgina

      Georgina,

      Essays come in different forms; some are long winded and wordy, others are concise and to the point. Mine addresses the topic directly, identifying a problem that is fundamental to Physics and possibly preventing the unification of Quantum Mechanics with Classical Physics (and Relativity).

      The topic of what is fundamental can be approached from many different angles. This is the approach I have chosen to take, and which may be the most beneficial to Science, rather than some banal discussion on the meaning of the word 'fundamental'.

      Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to read it. If you are familiar with the EPR experiment and its meaning and importance to Physics then hopefully you can appreciate what I have discovered in my analysis and its potential ramifications for Physics?

      Regards,

      Declan

      Andrew

      Thank you for this very important contribution!

      Do you think that maybe entanglement is an illusion as well and photon as a PARTICLE and instead A and B are affected by the same WAVE?

      Regards John-Erik

        John-Erik,

        Thank you.

        Yes, It does look likely that entanglement is an illusion, as it is the one aspect of Physics (QM primarily) that defies logic and cannot be explained Classically (other than the explanation in my essay).

        Photons are electromagnetic waves. They are emitted and absorbed by atoms in discrete quanta, yes, giving them the appearance of being particles; but I'm not convinced that they are held together in the same way as the wave-functions of other particles such as electrons. Indeed, a photon in space can be a wavetrain of several metres in length - hardly particle like. Photons of radio waves can have very long wavelengths (hundreds of meters), meaning that if they are particles they would be truly huge!

        Regards,

        Declan

        Declan,

        That finding's astounding. A revolution in physics! Classical QM!!! I've checked it and it's correct. I know that because my own essay; 'Absolute Simplicity' gives the full rationale and repeatable experimental protocol (with photographs) proving the very same thing!

        I recall a previous essay & cited an earlier paper of yours on the right tracks. I interesting note you also cite some of mine, which also show how the result unifies the description of QM and SR. I'm sure you'll completely understand and like mine.

        Many may miss this so for anyone else reading this; YES you CAN believe your own eyes. This is genuine and really important new physics.

        Very well done. We must get together on it, though I see we live almost precisely a hemisphere apart!

        Very best of luck in the contest.

        Peter

          Georgina,

          I can see your point about 'word count', however this really DOES address the subject more than any (many) I've read so far! What can be more fundamental and revolutionary than finally escaping the weird nonsense of QM and rationalising physics!!??

          Declan's finding really DOES do that, and indeed represents the mathematical code for the rationale and simple experiment in mine. Of course all those steeped in the Doctrine of the last 100 years will likely kick, scream, complain and deny, or just ignore, for another 10 years yet.

          I know you're not so 'steeped'. Rather you've seemed a bit fearful of QM, so often criticised any essays addressing it, but it really IS MOST fundamentally important for physics to escape the wonderland it's been in.

          I think and hope you'll fully understand mine (though a good idea of what needs to be achieved would help) which then also shows how the quantum world becomes fully rational and compatible with Relativity AT LAST! (though both interpretations need slight adjustment)

          I'm off to celebrate.

          Peter

          Peter,

          Thank you. I'm glad you understand the significance of this and concur with it. I have found your past essays, and now your latest one, very interesting and helpful in advancing our understanding of how the EPR experimental results are obtained by the combined effects of polarizers and photomultipliers resulting in a cosine squared dependence on angle.

          Yes, we are almost exactly a hemisphere apart - which may explain the perfect correlation in our findings!

          Best of luck for your essay this year...

          Regards,

          Declan

          Declan, you are right there are lots of ways an essay can be presented. Yours was a brief illustrated report.It would, I think, have been helpful if you had explained your approach to the competition topic up front, so that it appears relevant to it. I.e. Rather than 'what is fundamental?' you choose to identify a fundamental problem and address it. It would also have been helpful for me if you had written more to explain the background and walk through the significance. You write " The probability of a non-detect event is proportional to the square of the cosine of the angle between the photon polarization axis and the detector polarization axis -such that the greater the angle difference, the more likely a non-detect will occur." OK, but you don't explain why that is. From what I read, I get the impression that what is going on is various people tinkering with results, including or excluding them to tr and get the kind of relation they are hoping for. That is my impression knowing very little about this kind of work. I'd be interested to know if this kind of analysis has been done before as the problem has been around a long time. Are there any comparable findings from others? I think it will be really good to get feedback from people who can analyse what you have done and agree or disagree on its significance- rather than nice graph or enjoyed your paper.. Good luck with it. Kind regards Georgina

          I liked your essay

          One nit though. Why is a classical presentation of entanglement the most

          foundational aspect of physics?

          You make it appear as though this is a TOE in the making

          Can you explain more?

          Thanks

          Andrew

            Andrew,

            Thank you. Yes I would be glad to: the entanglement aspect of QM is the reason that Local Real models for the Universe have been considered to be disproven, placing QM as a more fundamental theory that cannot be explained by Classical Physics. QM theorists assert that fundamentally the Universe obeys strange laws such as entanglement and only reduces to Classical Physics is special circumstances. Hence if this can be proven to be false, and that every aspect of Physics can be explained Classically then the very nature and character of Physics is changed and unification, or a TOE becomes possible. See my 2012 FQXi essay for how Relativity can be explained Classically; so if QM too can be explained Classically, then we have the makings of a Theory Of Everything, or TOE.

            Regards,

            Declan

            Peter! I made no point about word count. My criticism of essays has nothing to do with a personal fear of QM. What nonsense. I know my limitations that's all. I think your comment was unhelpful. Georgina

            Declan

            I see that your ideas are very like mine. See my comment above. I therefore suggest that you take a look at my article called Fundamental Errors in Physics.

            From _______________ John-Erik

            Quantum steering exploits quantum correlations whereby an observer, Alice, can influence, or as it is said to steer, Bob's physical system in a bipartite entanglement with Alice's. This is a nonlocal process inaccessible to classical world. This in turn results in violation of some inequalities. This is employed by some to try to understand how quantum mechanics leads in the large action limit to classical physics. However, it is not in of itself a classical underpinning of quantum mechanics.

            I am having a hard time pinning that down in your essay. Computer codes can of course be written to output almost anything. I include the diagram in the attachment to illustrate where quantum steering sits with respect to the various levels of quantum nonlocality.

            Cheers LCAttachment #1: levels_of_nonlocality.png

              Lawrence,

              That is what Steering is *supposed* to be, but my analysis shows that there need not be ANY Steering occurring at all, as the QM correlation curve can be obtained by applying simple Classical selection rules giving Alice and Bob the choice to return either +1, -1 or 0.

              Regards,

              Declan

              Dear Declan Andrew Traill,

              I am in full agreement with you that entanglement, "a nonlocal process inaccessible to the classical world", is a most serious problem facing those who wish a comprehensible universe. Like you, I find it possible to produce a classical model that violates Bell's theorem. In the following I will try to compare our two results, both of which lead to the 'impossible' result.

              You propose an angle-dependent detection probability. If all hits are detected, then all hits count as +1 or -1 (in the QM theory). If certain hits are missed, this effectively lowers the 'average' reading (for that angle) to a number below +1 (or above -1). This lowering of the average value is effected by the cos(a.b) term.

              The +1 and -1 come from Bell's very first statement defining the problem, and reflects the consensus interpretation of the quantum mechanics of spin as a half integral "nonclassical" phenomenon. Your essentially classical model seems to accept the QM interpretation of spin as a two-state entity, which is generally true from spin statistics and magnetic fields, but has never been proved or experimentally demonstrated for single spins in magnetic-field-free space.

              In my classical model the 'hidden variable' is simply the 3D nature of spin which yields an angle-dependent deflection that matches the Stern-Gerlach data which has the well-known 'lip' pattern. My Stern-Gerlach-based model assumes 'perfect' detection since none of the atoms are lost; all atoms reach the target. But the registered spin component is less than +1, dependent on the initial angle the spin makes with the magnetic field. This yields exactly the cos(a.b) curve that Bell claims is impossible to achieve classically. It's only impossible when one forces all projections of atoms through the Stern-Gerlach apparatus to be maximum or minimum. Of course, the data shows that the atoms are deflected over a range of angles, but why be picky about experimental data that doesn't match a theory? Better to assume experimental error or some type of 'noise'.

              Finally, a key problem in Bell tests derives from the fact that Bell's initial analysis (and the Stern-Gerlach experiment) are based on neutral atoms, while all Bell tests are based on photon detection, which, as you point out, are not perfect. I have some ideas about how to translate from atomic phenomena (SG) to photonic phenomena (Bell tests) but your approach is physically reasonable, and may actually be correct for photons. Thanks for a very interesting essay.

              I hope you will read my current essay and comment. It challenges another belief based not on math but on physical interpretation.

              Best regards,

              Edwin Eugene Klingman

                Dear Declan Andrew Traill,

                Are you aware of R. McEachern's paper I just pointed to in the thread 31426 (by Flavio Del Santo)?

                I feel enlighted by Edwin Eugene Klingman's proficient detailed comments.

                See also Alan Kadin's current essay.

                Best regards,

                Eckard