This paper compares the entanglement of two quanta using the conventional formulation of quantum mechanics and a time-symmetric formulation without collapse postulate. It explores discrepancies in the analysis of the Hanbury Brown–Twiss experiment, potential solutions to nonlocality and measurement problems, and addresses time asymmetries in the conventional formulation.
Heaney shows that a time‑symmetric, collapse‑free formulation reproduces all standard quantum predictions while providing a more symmetric ontological picture. The approach retains the familiar mathematics (the integrand is the same overlap of wavefunctions) but interprets it as a spacetime‑distributed transition density. This resolves several foundational puzzles (measurement collapse, arrow of time, retrodiction) and suggests new experimental checks on classic interference experiments such as HBT.
Heaney shows that a time‑symmetric, collapse‑free formulation reproduces all standard quantum predictions while providing a more symmetric ontological picture. The approach retains the familiar mathematics (the integrand is the same overlap of wavefunctions) but interprets it as a spacetime‑distributed transition density. This resolves several foundational puzzles (measurement collapse, arrow of time, retrodiction) and suggests new experimental checks on classic interference experiments such as HBT.
The 1953 and 1960 Renninger negative-result thought experiments illustrate conceptual paradoxes in the Copenhagen formulation of quantum mechanics. In the 1953 paradox we can infer the presence of a detector in one arm of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer without any particle interacting with the detector. In the 1960 paradox we can infer the collapse of a wavefunction without any change in the state of a detector. I resolve both of these paradoxes by using a time-symmetric formulation of quantum mechanics. I also describe a real experiment that can distinguish between the Copenhagen and time-symmetric formulations.
Physicists suggest time may not be a fundamental aspect of reality but an emergent property from quantum entanglement. A study published in Physical Review A proposes the Page and Wootters mechanism, where time emerges through the entanglement between a clock and the system it measures, offering a potential resolution to the inconsistency of time in quantum mechanics and general relativity.
