An Alternative to the Born Rule : Spectral Quantization

Marc Dvorak*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

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Abstract

We show that there is a hidden freedom in quantum many-body theory associated with overcompleteness of the time evolution through the single-particle subspace of a many-body system. To fix the freedom, an additional constraint is necessary. We argue that the appropriate constraint on the time evolution through the subspace is to quantize the propagation of entangled pairs of particles, represented by the single-particle spectral function, instead of individual particles. This solution method creates a surface that indicates the multiplicity of every solution to the inverse problem defined by matching the freedom to the constraint. Upon measurement, the system collapses nonlocally onto a single quantized solution. In addition to a combinatoric multiplicity, each solution acquires a multiplicity due to its stability when subject to a small variation in the microscopic degrees of freedom. Numerical calculations for a two-level system show that our theory improves upon standard theory in the description of non-quasiparticle spectral features. Our reinterpretation of quantum many-body theory is not based on the Born rule and offers a more faithful representation of experiments than current theory by modeling individual, quantized events with an explicit collapse model.

Original languageEnglish
Article number50
Pages (from-to)1-25
Number of pages25
JournalFoundations of Physics
Volume53
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2023
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • Entanglement
  • Non-Fermi liquid
  • Quantum many-body theory
  • Quantum measurement
  • Wave function collapse

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