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Proposed experiments for detecting contextual hidden variables

Quantum Physics 2025-07-15 v2

Abstract

We propose two quantum experiments - modified Bell tests - that could detect contextual hidden variables underlying quantum mechanics. The experiments are inspired by hydrodynamic pilot-wave systems that mimic a wide range of quantum effects and exhibit a classical analog of contextuality. To justify the experiments, we show that contextual hidden variables are 'physics as usual' if a unification between quantum mechanics and general relativity is possible. Accordingly, contextual theories can bypass Bell's theorem in a way that is both local and non-conspiratorial. We end with a note on the relevance of exploratory experiments in the foundations of quantum physics.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2506.02637,
  title  = {Proposed experiments for detecting contextual hidden variables},
  author = {Konstantinos Papatryfonos and Louis Vervoort},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.02637},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

Accepted for publication in Foundations of Physics

R2 v1 2026-07-01T02:56:24.891Z