A Realistic Deterministic Quantum Theory Using Borelian-Normal Numbers

Abstract

The elements of a deterministic quantum theory are developed, which reformulates and extends standard quantum theory. The proposed theory is `realistic' in the sense that in it, a general M-level quantum state is represented by a single real number r. Surprising as it may seem, this real number is shown to contain the same probabilistic information as the standard Hilbert-space state, plus additional information from which measurement outcome is determined. A crucial concept in achieving this is that of Borelian (number-theoretic) normality. The essential role of complex numbers in standard quantum theory is subsumed by the action of a set of self-similar permutation operators on the digits and places of the base-M expansion of a base-M Borelian-normal r; these permutation operators are shown to have complex structure and leave invariant the normality of the underlying real number. The set of real numbers generated by these permutations defines not only the Hilbert space of standard quantum theory, but also, in addition, the sample space from which quantum measurement outcomes can be objectively determined. Dynamical real-number state reduction is precisely described by deterministic number-theoretic operators that reduce the degree of normality of r; from the degree of normality one can infer the standard quantum-theoretic trace rule for measurement probability. All the foundational difficulties of standard quantum theory are described in terms of the proposed theory. It is shown that the real-number states of the proposed theory are precisely its beables.