A Signal Processing Model of Quantum Mechanics

This paper develops a deterministic model of quantum mechanics as an accumulation-and-threshold process. The model arises from an analogy with signal processing in wireless communications. Complex wavefunctions are interpreted as expressing the amplitude and phase information of a modulated carrier wave. Particle transmission events are modeled as the outcome of a process of signal accumulation that occurs in an extra (non-spacetime) dimension. Besides giving a natural interpretation of the wavefunction and the Born rule, the model accommodates the collapse of the wave packet and other quantum paradoxes such as EPR and the Ahanorov-Bohm effect. The model also gives a new perspective on the 'relational' nature of quantum mechanics: that is, whether the wave function of a physical system is "real" or simply reflects the observer's partial knowledge of the system. We simulate the model for a 2-slit experiment, and indicate possible deviations of the model's predictions from conventional quantum mechanics. We also indicate how the theory may be extended to a field theory.