paper

Space-time from collapse of the wave-function

arXiv:1809.03441 · doi:10.1515/zna-2018-0477

Abstract

We propose that space-time results from collapse of the wave function of macroscopic objects, in quantum dynamics. We first argue that there ought to exist a formulation of quantum theory which does not refer to classical time. We then propose such a formulation by invoking an operator Minkowski space-time on the Hilbert space. We suggest relativistic spontaneous localisation as the mechanism for recovering classical space-time from the underlying theory. Quantum interference in time could be one possible signature for operator time, and in fact may have been already observed in the laboratory, on attosecond time scales. A possible prediction of our work seems to be that interference in time will not be seen for `time slit' separations significantly larger than 100 attosecond, if the ideas of operator time and relativistic spontaneous localisation are correct.

v2: 12 pages, 6 figures, clarifying remarks added, has text overlap with arXiv:1806.01297 [gr-qc], to appear in Zeitschrift für Naturforschung A

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