Mindscape 323 | Jacob Barandes on Indivisible Stochastic Quantum Mechanics
Audio Brief
Show transcript
This episode delves into the foundational crisis of quantum mechanics, where its spectacular predictive success is ironically undermined by a lack of consensus on the true nature of reality it describes. The discussion introduces physicist Jacob Barandes' innovative alternative theory, Indivisible Stochastic Quantum Mechanics.
There are four key insights from this compelling conversation.
The central challenge in quantum mechanics today is not about improving its already precise predictive power, but about establishing a coherent, understandable description of the reality that underpins its strange phenomena. Barandes’ ISQM addresses this directly, proposing a clear ontology of distinct point particles possessing definite locations, yet moving stochastically through spacetime, crucially without relying on a wave function. This offers a fundamentally different framework for what truly exists.
A groundbreaking aspect of ISQM is its radical rejection of the Markov assumption, a cornerstone of much traditional physics. Instead, it posits that a particle's future evolution depends not solely on its present state, but crucially on its entire past history. This non-Markovian property is central to Barandes' explanation of complex quantum behaviors from a distinct physical basis.
In ISQM, quantum processes are conceptualized as fundamentally "indivisible" over time, meaning they retain their quantum nature until disrupted. An interaction with the environment, acting as a measurement or decoherence event, serves as a "division event." These events break the indivisibility, compelling the system to transition into classical behavior and providing an explanation for the disappearance of quantum interference patterns upon observation.
Barandes offers incisive critiques of established quantum interpretations. He argues that Bohmian mechanics proves practically ineffective in solving key problems, while the Everettian, or Many-Worlds, interpretation demands an escalating number of unproven metaphysical assumptions, a dilemma he terms the "Stone Soup problem." Crucially, ISQM is meticulously constructed to be empirically equivalent to standard quantum mechanics, meaning it yields identical observational predictions while proposing an entirely different underlying picture of reality.
This compelling conversation illuminates the enduring intellectual quest to reconcile quantum theory's unparalleled predictive power with a clear, consistent, and intuitive understanding of the universe's most fundamental nature.
Episode Overview
- The podcast explores the foundational crisis in quantum mechanics: its spectacular predictive success is undermined by a lack of consensus on what it says about the nature of reality.
- Physicist Jacob Barandes introduces his alternative theory, Indivisible Stochastic Quantum Mechanics, which describes a reality of point particles moving stochastically without a wave function.
- Barandes details his intellectual journey, explaining his critiques of established interpretations like Bohmian mechanics and the Everettian (Many-Worlds) interpretation, which he argues suffer from practical failures and an escalating need for unproven assumptions.
- The core of the new theory is the rejection of the Markov assumption, positing that a particle's future evolution depends on its entire past history, and quantum processes are fundamentally "indivisible" until a measurement or decoherence event occurs.
Key Concepts
- The Foundational Problem of Quantum Mechanics: The theory is incredibly successful at making predictions, yet there is no agreed-upon understanding of the underlying reality it describes.
- Three Components of a Physical Theory: Any physical theory can be understood through its ontology (what exists), its dynamics (how things change), and its probabilistic framework. Quantum mechanics forced a radical revision of all three compared to classical physics.
- Indivisible Stochastic Quantum Mechanics (ISQM): A proposed theory with a clear ontology of point particles that have definite locations but move stochastically. It does not use a wave function.
- Non-Markovian Nature: A radical departure from traditional physics, ISQM proposes that a system's future state depends not just on its present state, but on its entire past history.
- Indivisibility and Division Events: Quantum processes are described as fundamentally "indivisible" over time. An interaction with the environment, equivalent to measurement or decoherence, acts as a "division event" that breaks this indivisibility and forces the system to behave classically.
- Explaining Quantum Phenomena: The theory explains quantum interference (e.g., in the double-slit experiment) as a natural consequence of an indivisible process. The disappearance of interference upon measurement is explained by the introduction of a division event.
- Critique of Other Interpretations: Barandes dismisses Bohmian mechanics for its practical failure to solve key problems and critiques the Everettian interpretation for requiring an escalating number of metaphysical assumptions to derive probabilities (which he calls the "Stone Soup problem").
- Stability of Matter: The theory explains the stability of atoms through "dynamic equilibrium," where particles are constantly "jiggling" in a way that creates a stationary probability distribution over time, preventing them from radiating energy and collapsing.
- Empirical Equivalence: ISQM is constructed to make the same empirical predictions as standard quantum mechanics, offering a different picture of reality that is consistent with all existing experimental data.
Quotes
- At 0:04 - "Quantum mechanics... continues to be in this weird situation where it's a wonderful theory that fits all the data... And yet, it is very, very easy to ask questions about quantum mechanics that we don't know the answer to... not just 'what would happen' questions, but 'what does the theory say?' questions." - Sean Carroll explaining the central dilemma of quantum mechanics.
- At 3:07 - "The basic idea is that you don't have a wave function. That's the biggest thing... You really just do have, for electrons for example, you have point particles and they have locations. But rather than following some deterministic trajectories, those point particles move stochastically." - Sean Carroll summarizing the central premise of Barandes's theory.
- At 1:01:12 - "...what I now call the stone soup problem." - Jacob Barandes coining a term for his critique of the Everettian interpretation, where deriving quantum probabilities requires adding more and more speculative assumptions.
- At 85:05 - "After some effort to understand what had happened, I discovered that I'd inadvertently given up the Markov assumption." - Jacob Barandes identifying the key conceptual leap that allowed him to derive quantum theory from a classical-like stochastic framework.
- At 155:05 - "The particles are jiggling. Yeah, but they're jiggling in a way that leads to a stationary probability distribution over time." - Jacob Barandes explaining how his theory accounts for the stability of matter via a "dynamic equilibrium" that prevents atoms from radiating energy.
Takeaways
- The primary challenge in quantum mechanics today is not improving its predictive power, but developing a coherent description of the reality that produces its strange phenomena.
- A potentially fruitful path for new theories is to challenge fundamental assumptions of physics, such as the Markov property, which states that the future depends only on the present.
- Quantum weirdness, like interference, can be re-framed as a property of "indivisible" physical processes, while the transition to classical behavior can be seen as the "division" of these processes by measurement and decoherence.
- It is possible to develop alternative quantum theories that are empirically identical to the standard formulation but offer a completely different and potentially more intuitive picture of what exists at a fundamental level.
