Related papers: What is a particle?
The aim of these notes is to elucidate some aspects of quantum field theory in curved spacetime, especially those relating to the notion of particles. A selection of issues relevant to wave-particle duality is given. The case of a generic…
We consider the possibility that all particles in the world are fundamentally identical, i.e., belong to the same species. Different masses, charges, spins, flavors, or colors then merely correspond to different quantum states of the same…
Quantum foundations are still unsettled, with mixed effects on science and society. By now it should be possible to obtain consensus on at least one issue: Are the fundamental constituents fields or particles? As this paper shows,…
A phase space formulation of the filtering process upon an incident quantum state is developed. This formulation can explain the results of both quantum interference and delayed-choice experiments without making use of the controversial…
A reasonable explanation of the confounding wave-particle duality of matter is presented in terms of the reality of the wave nature of a particle. In this view a quantum particle is an objectively real wave packet consisting of irregular…
Several recent arguments purport to show that there can be no relativistic, quantum-mechanical theory of localizable particles and, thus, that relativity and quantum mechanics can be reconciled only in the context of quantum field theory.…
We define a new concept of local states in the framework of algebraic quantum field theory (AQFT). Local states are a natural generalization of states and give a clear vision of localization in the context of QFT. In terms of them, we can…
It is shown that neither the wave picture nor the ordinary particle picture offers a satisfactory explanation of the double-slit experiment. The Physicists who have been successful in formulating theories in the Newtonian Paradigm with its…
Scalar particles--i.e., scalar-field excitations--in de Sitter space exhibit behavior unlike either classical particles in expanding space or quantum particles in flat spacetime. Their energies oscillate forever, and their interactions are…
The reader surely knows what particles physics is about: finding building blocks of nature that appear elementary at a given time and study their interactions - so why in the world this essay? The problem is how to arrive at a fundamental…
We argue that quantum nonlocality of entangled states is not an actual phenomenon. It appears in quantum mechanics as a consequence of the inconsistency of its superposition principle with the corpuscular properties of a quantum particle.…
Quantum field theory (QFT) in classical spacetime has revealed interesting and puzzling aspects about gravitational systems, in particular black hole thermodynamics and its information processing. Although quantum gravitational effects may…
In this paper, epistemology and ontology of quantum states are discussed based on a completely new way of founding quantum theory. The fundamental notions are conceptual variables in the mind of an observer or in the joint minds of a group…
Understanding the quantum aspects of gravity is not only a matter of equations and experiments. Gravity is intimately connected with the structure of space and time, and understanding quantum gravity requires us to find a conceptual…
We propose that particles are associated both with localized macroscopic states at point vertices and with extended microscopic states at all vacuum points. The self-fields screen the microscopic particle currents everywhere except at the…
A "quantum-first" approach to gravity is described, where rather than quantizing general relativity, one seeks to formulate the physics of gravity within a quantum-mechanical framework with suitably general postulates. Important guides are…
Quantum particles in a potential are described by classical statistical probabilities. We formulate a basic time evolution law for the probability distribution of classical position and momentum such that all known quantum phenomena follow,…
The observed astrophysical phenomenon of dark matter has generated new interest in the problem of whether the principles underlying QFT are consistent with invisibility/inertness of energy-momentum carrying "stuff" as e.g. "unparticles". We…
The present state of QFT is analysed from a new viewpoint whose mathematical basis is the modular theory of von Neumann algebras. Its physical consequences suggest new ways of dealing with interactions, symmetries, Hawking-Unruh thermal…
In Bohmian mechanics elementary particles exist objectively, as point particles moving according to a law determined by a wavefunction. In this context, questions as to whether the particles of a certain species are real--questions such as,…