Elements of sub-quantum thermodynamics: quantum motion as ballistic diffusion
- 8 July 2011
- journal article
- Published by IOP Publishing in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
- Vol. 306 (1), 012046
- https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/306/1/012046
Abstract
By modelling quantum systems as emerging from a (classical) sub-quantum thermodynamics, the quantum mechanical "decay of the wave packet" is shown to simply result from sub-quantum diffusion with a specific diffusion coefficient varying in time due to a particle's changing thermal environment. It is thereby proven that free quantum motion strictly equals ballistic diffusion. The exact quantum mechanical trajectory distributions and the velocity field of the Gaussian wave packet are thus derived solely from classical physics. Moreover, also quantum motion in a linear (e.g., gravitational) potential is shown to equal said ballistic diffusion. Quantitative statements on the trajectories' characteristic behaviours are obtained which provide a detailed "micro-causal" explanation in full accordance with momentum conservation.Keywords
Other Versions
This publication has 18 references indexed in Scilit:
- Emergence and collapse of quantum mechanical superposition: Orthogonality of reversible dynamics and irreversible diffusionPhysica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2010
- Sub-Quantum Thermodynamics as a Basis of Emergent Quantum MechanicsEntropy, 2010
- Unpredictable Tunneling of a Classical Wave-Particle AssociationPhysical Review Letters, 2009
- A trajectory-based understanding of quantum interferenceJournal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical, 2008
- The vacuum fluctuation theorem: Exact Schrödinger equation via nonequilibrium thermodynamicsPhysics Letters A, 2008
- Single-Particle Diffraction and Interference at a Macroscopic ScalePhysical Review Letters, 2006
- Particle–wave association on a fluid interfaceJournal of Fluid Mechanics, 2006
- Walking and orbiting dropletsNature, 2005
- A new look at the derivation of the Schrödinger equation from Newtonian mechanicsAnnalen der Physik, 2003
- Do Bohm Trajectories Always Provide a Trustworthy Physical Picture of Particle Motion?Physica Scripta, 1998