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The Cellular Automaton Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
This book presents the deterministic view of quantum mechanics developed by Nobel Laureate Gerard 't Hooft.
Dissatisfied with the uncomfortable gaps in the way conventional quantum mechanics meshes with the classical world, 't Hooft has revived the old hidden variable ideas, but now in a much more systematic way than usual. In this, quantum mechanics is viewed as a tool rather than a theory.
The book presents examples of models that are classical in essence, but can be analysed by the use of quantum techniques, and argues that even the Standard Model, together with gravitational interactions, might be viewed as a quantum mechanical approach to analysing a system that could be classical at its core. He shows how this approach, even though it is based on hidden variables, can be plausibly reconciled with Bell's theorem, and how the usual objections voiced against the idea of ‘superdeterminism' can be overcome, at least in principle.
This framework elegantly explains - and automatically cures - the problems of the wave function collapse and the measurement problem. Even the existence of an “arrow of time" can perhaps be explained in a more elegant way than usual. As well as reviewing the author’s earlier work in the field, the book also contains many new observations and calculations. It provides stimulating reading for all physicists working on the foundations of quantum theory.
Dissatisfied with the uncomfortable gaps in the way conventional quantum mechanics meshes with the classical world, 't Hooft has revived the old hidden variable ideas, but now in a much more systematic way than usual. In this, quantum mechanics is viewed as a tool rather than a theory.
The book presents examples of models that are classical in essence, but can be analysed by the use of quantum techniques, and argues that even the Standard Model, together with gravitational interactions, might be viewed as a quantum mechanical approach to analysing a system that could be classical at its core. He shows how this approach, even though it is based on hidden variables, can be plausibly reconciled with Bell's theorem, and how the usual objections voiced against the idea of ‘superdeterminism' can be overcome, at least in principle.
This framework elegantly explains - and automatically cures - the problems of the wave function collapse and the measurement problem. Even the existence of an “arrow of time" can perhaps be explained in a more elegant way than usual. As well as reviewing the author’s earlier work in the field, the book also contains many new observations and calculations. It provides stimulating reading for all physicists working on the foundations of quantum theory.
316 pages, Hardcover
Published September 13, 2016
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About the author
Gerard 't Hooft
17 books34 followersGerard 't Hooft Professor at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Shared 1999 Nobel Prize in Physics
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 7, 2018
I found this book somewhat disappointing. One of the advantages of expressing an idea in terms of cellular automata is that it can make it accessible to a non-technical readership. Toy models can be discussed in the text and more complex examples can be made available online. Unfortunately ’t Hooft doesn't do this at all. Whilst the author talked about cellular automata, the formulae were very quantumish. Maybe experts who examine the work deeply could tell the difference, but not me. So when he highlights that he can reproduce the predictions of quantum theory it's not that surprising.
April 21, 2023
I don't think this perspective has anything to offer of interest. I am seeing little but a restatement of Copenhagen Interpretation, with some spurious ontological foundation of cellular automatons to somehow justify the Copenhagen interpretation, when it provides nothing but a mathematical analogy.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews