arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Joy Christian.
I point out a sign mistake in the GHZ variant of Bell's theorem, invalidating its claim that the premisses of the EPR argument are inconsistent for systems of more than two particles in entangled quantum states.
I demonstrate that Bell's theorem is based on circular reasoning and thus a fundamentally flawed argument. It unjustifiably assumes the additivity of expectation values for dispersion-free states of contextual hidden variable theories for non-commuting observables involved in Bell-test experiments, which is tautologous to assuming the bounds of $\pm2$ on the Bell-CHSH sum of expectation values. Its premises thus assume in a different guise the bounds of $\pm2\,$ it sets out to prove. Once this oversight is ameliorated from Bell's argument by identifying the impediment that leads to it and local realism is implemented correctly, the bounds on the Bell-CHSH sum of expectation values work out to be ${\pm2\sqrt{2}}$ instead of ${\pm2}$, thereby mitigating the conclusion of Bell's theorem. Consequently, what is ruled out by any of the Bell-test experiments is not local realism but the linear additivity of expectation values, which does not hold for non-commuting observables in any hidden variable theories to begin with. I also identify similar oversight in the GHZ variant of Bell's theorem, invalidating its claim of having found an inconsistency in the premisses of the argument by EPR for completing quantum mechanics. Conceptually, the oversight in both Bell's theorem and its GHZ variant traces back to the oversight in von Neumann's theorem against hidden variable theories identified by Grete Hermann in the 1930s.
In this paper I respond to a critique of one of my papers previously published in the Royal Society Open Science entitled "Quantum correlations are weaved by the spinors of the Euclidean primitives." Without engaging with the geometrical framework presented in my paper, the critique incorrectly claims that there are mathematical errors in it. I demonstrate that the critique is based on a series of misunderstandings, and refute each of its claims of error. I also bring out a number of logical, mathematical, and conceptual errors from the critique and the critiques it relies on.
In previous publications I have proposed a geometrical framework underpinning the local, realistic, and deterministic origins of the strong quantum correlations observed in Nature, without resorting to superdeterminism, retrocausality, or other conspiracy loopholes usually employed to circumvent Bell's argument against such a possibility. The geometrical framework I have proposed is based on a Clifford-algebraic interplay between the quaternionic 3-sphere, or $S^3$, which I have taken to model the geometry of the three-dimensional physical space in which we are confined to perform all our physical experiments, and an octonion-like 7-sphere, or $S^7$, which arises as an algebraic representation space of this quaternionic 3-sphere. In this paper I first review the above geometrical framework, then strengthen its Clifford-algebraic foundations employing the language of geometric algebra, and finally refute some of its critiques.
Using the powerful language of geometric algebra, we present an observationally symmetric derivation of the strong correlations predicted by the entangled singlet state in a deterministic and locally causal model, usually also referred to as a local-realistic model, in which the physical space is assumed to be a quaternionic 3-sphere, or $S^3$, available as the spatial part of a solution of Einstein's field equations of general relativity, and compare it in quantitative detail with Bell's local-realistic model for the singlet correlations set within a flat Euclidean space ${\mathrm{I\!R}^3}$. Since the quantitatively detailed expressions of relative-angle-dependent probabilities of observing measurement outcomes for Bell's local model do not seem to have been fully articulated before, our novel analysis exploiting the non-commutative properties of quaternions, in addition to allowing the comparison with the quaternionic 3-sphere model, may also provide useful comparisons for other less compelling local-realistic models, such as those relying on retrocausality or superdeterminism. Apart from the conservation of zero spin angular momentum, the key attribute underlying the strong singlet correlations within $S^3$ in comparison with Bell's local model turns out to be the spinorial sign changes intrinsic to quaternions that constitute the 3-sphere. In addition, we also discuss anew a macroscopic experiment that can, in principle, test our 3-sphere hypothesis.
We demonstrate that classical and quantum electrodynamics can be completed by gravitational torsion appearing in Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity, providing the missing part of the electron theory. One of the equations of this theory, a version of Dirac type equation for fermions called Hehl-Datta equation, contains a gravitational spin-torsion term in the Lagrangian density for quantum electrodynamics. This term relates the charged fermion spin to gravitational torsion and provides a mechanical energy counter-balance to the infinite electromagnetic self-energy. As a result, there is no "bare" mass for an electron, nor is renormalization required for many scenarios.
In this paper, I respond to a critique of one of my papers previously published in this journal, entitled "Bell's Theorem Versus Local Realism in a Quaternionic Model of Physical Space." That paper presents a local-realistic model of quantum correlations based on a quaternionic 3-sphere, taken as a physical space in which we are confined to perform all our experiments. The critique, on the other hand, considers two entirely different models within a flat Euclidean space, neither related to my quaternionic 3-sphere model. It then criticizes its own flat space models and claims that it has thereby criticized the model presented in my paper. Along the way, without providing evidence or proof, it claims that the results in my paper are based on mistakes. I demonstrate that there are no mistakes of any kind in my paper. On the contrary, I bring out a number of elementary mathematical and conceptual mistakes from the critique and the critiques it relies on.
In this paper, I respond to a critique of one of my papers previously published in this journal, entitled `Dr. Bertlmann's socks in a quaternionic world of ambidextral reality.' The geometrical framework presented in my paper is based on a quaternionic 3-sphere, or S^3, taken as a model of the physical space in which we are inescapably confined to perform all our experiments. The framework intrinsically circumvents Bell's theorem by reproducing the singlet correlations local-realistically, without resorting to backward causation, superdeterminism, or any other conspiracy loophole. In this response, I demonstrate point by point that, contrary to its claims, the critique has not found any mistakes in my paper, either in the analytical model of the singlet correlations or in its event-by-event numerical simulation based on Geometric Algebra.
In a recent paper [1], it has been proposed that relativistic wave-particle duality can be embodied in a relation that shows that the four-velocity of a particle is proportional to the Dirac four-current. In this note we bring out some problems with that idea. In particular, we point out that, in line with existing literature on Einstein-Cartan gravity with torsion, the spin-torsion term should represent negative energy. Moreover, if what is proposed in Eq. (20) of [1] is correct, then the spin torsion term would be zero in the rest frame of the fermion. We suggest a possible resolution of that dilemma.
In this pedagogical paper, John S. Bell's amusing example of Dr. Bertlmann's socks is reconsidered, first within a toy model of a two-dimensional one-sided world of a non-orientable M\"obius strip, and then within a real world of three-dimensional quaternionic sphere, S^3, which results from an addition of a single point to R^3 at infinity. In the quaternionic world, which happens to be the spatial part of a solution of Einstein's field equations of general relativity, the singlet correlations between a pair of entangled fermions can be understood as classically as those between Dr. Bertlmann's colorful socks.
We present an eight-dimensional even sub-algebra of the ${2^4=16}$-dimensional associative Clifford algebra ${\mathrm{Cl}_{4,0}}$ and show that its eight-dimensional multivectors ${\bf X}$ and ${\bf Y}$ respect the composition law ${||{\bf X}{\bf Y}||=||{\bf X}||\,||{\bf Y}||}$, thus forming an octonion-like but associative normed division algebra, where the norms are calculated using the fundamental geometric product instead of the usual scalar product so that the underlying coefficient algebra resembles split complex numbers instead of reals. The corresponding 7-sphere obtained from projecting this multivector-valued composition law to the scalar-valued composition law has a topology that differs from that of the octonionic 7-sphere. Just as the octonionic 7-sphere is parallelizable using the non-associative algebra of octonions, we demonstrate that the 7-sphere presented herein is parallelizable using the said associative algebra.
One of the reasons why Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory --- which includes torsion due to the intrinsic spin of matter --- is not widely accepted as a viable theory of gravity, is the lack of any experimental evidence for the gravitational torsion. But at the heart of all matter are elementary fermions, which are mathematically described as spinors, and can be viewed as defects in spacetime associated with torsion. Therefore, in this essay we argue that the existence of matter itself provides a proof that gravitational torsion exists, albeit only inside of matter, and hence it does not propagate.
In a couple of recent preprints Moldoveanu has suggested that there are errors in my disproof of Bell's theorem. Here I show that this claim is false. In particular, I show that my local-realistic framework is incorrectly and misleadingly presented in both of his preprints. In addition there are a number of serious mathematical and conceptual errors in his discussion of my framework. For example, contrary to his claim, my framework is manifestly non-contextual. In particular, quantum correlations are understood within it as purely topological effects, not contextual effects.
The exceptional Lie group E8 plays a prominent role in both mathematics and theoretical physics. It is the largest symmetry group associated with the most general possible normed division algebra, namely, that of the non-associative real octonions, which --- thanks to their non-associativity --- form the only possible closed set of spinors (or rotors) that can parallelize the 7-sphere. By contrast, here we show how a similar 7-sphere also arises naturally from the algebraic interplay of the graded Euclidean primitives, such as points, lines, planes, and volumes, which characterize the three-dimensional conformal geometry of the ambient physical space, set within its eight-dimensional Clifford-algebraic representation. Remarkably, the resulting algebra remains associative, and allows us to understand the origins and strengths of all quantum correlations locally, in terms of the geometry of the compactified physical space, namely, that of a quaternionic 3-sphere, S3, with S7 being its algebraic representation space. Every quantum correlation can thus be understood as a correlation among a set of points of this S7, computed using manifestly local spinors within S3, thereby extending the stringent bounds of +/-2 set by Bell inequalities to the bounds of +/-2\/2 on the strengths of all possible strong correlations, in the same quantitatively precise manner as that predicted within quantum mechanics. The resulting geometrical framework thus overcomes Bell's theorem by producing a strictly deterministic and realistic framework that allows a locally causal understanding of all quantum correlations, without requiring either remote contextuality or backward causation.
Two of the major open questions in particle physics are: (1) Why are the elementary fermionic particles that are so far observed have such low mass-energy compared to the Planck energy scale? And (2), what mechanical energy may be counterbalancing the divergent electrostatic and strong force energies of point-like charged fermions in the vicinity of the Planck scale? In this paper, using a hitherto unrecognized mechanism derived from the non-linear amelioration of Dirac equation known as the Hehl-Datta equation within Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble (ECSK) extension of general relativity, we present detailed numerical estimates suggesting that the mechanical energy arising from the gravity-induced self-interaction in the ECSK theory can address both of these questions in tandem.
We show that the respective oversights in the von Neumann's general theorem against all hidden variable theories and Bell's theorem against their local-realistic counterparts are homologous. Both theorems unjustifiably assume the additivity of expectation values within hidden variable theories to derive their respective conclusions. However, for non-commuting observables, the equivalence of a sum of expectation values and the expectation value of the sum of measurement results, although respected within quantum mechanics, need not hold for hidden variable theories, regardless of specific characteristics such as local realism they may respect. Once this oversight is ameliorated from Bell's argument and local realism is implemented correctly, the bounds on the CHSH correlator work out to be ${\pm2\sqrt{2}}$ instead of ${\pm2}$, thereby mitigating the conclusion of Bell's theorem. Consequently, what is ruled out by the Bell-test experiments is not local realism but the additivity of expectation values.
We illustrate an explicit counterexample to Bell's theorem by constructing a pair of spin variables in S^3 that exactly reproduces the EPR-Bohm correlation in a manifestly local-realistic manner.
In a recent preprint [arXiv:1412.2677] Richard Gill has criticized an experimental proposal published in a journal of theoretical physics which describes how to detect a macroscopic signature of fermionic sign changes. Here I point out that Gill's worries stem from his own elementary algebraic and conceptual mistakes, and present several event-by-event numerical simulations which bring out his mistakes by explicit computations.