The Macroscopic Quantum Effect in Nonlinear Oscillating Systems: a Possible Bridge between Classical and Quantum Physics

Einstein, De Broglie and others hoped that the schism between classical and quantum physics might one day be overcome by a theory taking into account the essential nonlinearity of elementary physical processes. However, neither their attempts, nor subsequent ones were able to supply a unifying principle that could serve as a starting-point for a coherent understanding of both microphysical and macroscopic phenomena. In the late 1960s the phenomenon of amplitude quantization, or Macroscopic Quantum Effect (MQE), was discovered in a class of nonlinear oscillating systems in which two or more subsystems are coupled to each other by interactions having a specific phase-dependent character -- so-called argumental interactions. Experimental and theoretical studies of the MQE, carried out up to the present time, suggest the possibility of a new conceptual framework for physics, which would provide a bridge between classical and quantum physics, replacing the Newtonian notion of "force" by a new conception of physical interaction. The present paper presents a brief introduction to the MQE and some ideas about its possible significance in the search for new approaches to the understanding of quantum phenomena.