The emerging quantum : the physics behind quantum mechanics

This monograph presents the latest findings from a long-term research project intended to identify the physics behind Quantum Mechanics. A fundamental theory for quantum mechanics is constructed from first physical principles, revealing quantization as an emergent phenomenon arising from a deeper stochastic process. As such, it offers the vibrant community working on the foundations of quantum mechanics an alternative contribution open to discussion. The book starts with a critical summary of the main conceptual problems that still beset quantum mechanics. The basic consideration is then introduced that any material system is an open system in permanent contact with the random zero-point radiation field, with which it may reach a state of equilibrium. Working from this basis, a comprehensive and self-consistent theoretical framework is then developed. The pillars of the quantum-mechanical formalism are derived, as well as the radiative corrections of nonrelativistic QED, while revealing the underlying physical mechanisms. The genesis of some of the central features of quantum theory is elucidated, such as atomic stability, the spin of the electron, quantum fluctuations, quantum nonlocality, and entanglement. The theory developed here reaffirms fundamental scientific principles such as realism, causality, locality and objectivity. Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Quantum Mechanics: Some Questions....Pages 1-31 The Phenomenological Stochastic Approach: A Short Route to Quantum Mechanics....Pages 33-66 The Planck Distribution Planck distribution , a Necessary Consequence of the Fluctuating Zero-Point Field....Pages 67-93 The Long Journey to the Schrödinger Equation....Pages 95-149 The Road to Heisenberg Quantum Mechanics....Pages 151-193 Beyond the Schrödinger Equation....Pages 195-235 Disentangling Quantum Entanglement....Pages 237-265 Causality, Nonlocality, and Entanglement in Quantum Mechanics....Pages 267-307 The Zero-Point Field Waves (and) Matter....Pages 309-330 Quantum Mechanics: Some Answers....Pages 331-345 Back Matter....Pages 347-366