Quantum interference phenomena are widely viewed as posing a challenge to the classical worldview. Feynman even went so far as to claim that they are the only mystery and the basic peculiarity of quantum mechanics. We challenge this claim by describing an alternative to quantum theory, a statistical theory of a classical discrete field—a `toy field theory’—that reproduces the relevant phenomenology of quantum interference while respecting the classical worldview in the sense of being realizable by a local and noncontextual ontological model. This theory also reproduces a number of related interference phenomena, such as the Elitzur-Vaidman bomb tester, Wheeler's delayed-choice experiment, and the quantum eraser experiment. Finally, we identify an aspect of interference phenomenology that does resist explanation within the classical worldview, namely, the functional form of the quantum wave-particle duality relation.
17:00 | get-together with coffee and snacks |
17:30 | VCQ Student talk by Stefan Ludescher (IQOQI Vienna) |
17:45 | Colloquium talk by Prof. Spekkens |
