Institute for Quantum Studies, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866;
Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Jun 20;114(25):6480-6485. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1704649114. Epub 2017 May 31.
Feynman stated that the double-slit experiment "…has in it the heart of quantum mechanics. In reality, it contains the only mystery" and that "nobody can give you a deeper explanation of this phenomenon than I have given; that is, a description of it" [Feynman R, Leighton R, Sands M (1965) ]. We rise to the challenge with an alternative to the wave function-centered interpretations: instead of a quantum wave passing through both slits, we have a localized particle with nonlocal interactions with the other slit. Key to this explanation is dynamical nonlocality, which naturally appears in the Heisenberg picture as nonlocal equations of motion. This insight led us to develop an approach to quantum mechanics which relies on pre- and postselection, weak measurements, deterministic, and modular variables. We consider those properties of a single particle that are deterministic to be primal. The Heisenberg picture allows us to specify the most complete enumeration of such deterministic properties in contrast to the Schrödinger wave function, which remains an ensemble property. We exercise this approach by analyzing a version of the double-slit experiment augmented with postselection, showing that only it and not the wave function approach can be accommodated within a time-symmetric interpretation, where interference appears even when the particle is localized. Although the Heisenberg and Schrödinger pictures are equivalent formulations, nevertheless, the framework presented here has led to insights, intuitions, and experiments that were missed from the old perspective.
费曼指出，双缝实验“……包含了量子力学的核心。实际上，它包含了唯一的奥秘”，并且“没有人能比我更深入地解释这个现象；也就是说，对它的描述”[费曼 R、雷顿 R、桑兹 M（1965）]。我们用一种替代波函数中心解释的方法来应对这一挑战：不是一个量子波同时通过两个狭缝，而是一个具有与另一个狭缝非局部相互作用的局域粒子。这个解释的关键是动态非局域性，它自然出现在海森堡图像中作为非局域运动方程。这一见解促使我们发展了一种依赖于预选择和后选择、弱测量、确定性和模块化变量的量子力学方法。我们认为那些具有确定性的单个粒子的性质是原始的。与薛定谔波函数相比，海森堡图像允许我们指定这种确定性性质的最完整枚举，而薛定谔波函数仍然是一个整体性质。我们通过分析一个带有后选择的双缝实验的版本来应用这种方法，表明只有它而不是波函数方法可以在一个时间对称的解释中被容纳，即使粒子是局域的，干涉也会出现。虽然海森堡和薛定谔图像是等效的表述，但这里提出的框架已经导致了从旧视角错过的见解、直觉和实验。
