Quantum Field-Theoretic Predictions of {\Psi}-Epistemic Models of Quantum Mechanics
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Quantum Physics arXiv:2605.12546 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 9 May 2026] Title:Quantum Field-Theoretic Predictions of Ψ-Epistemic Models of Quantum Mechanics Authors:İnanç Şahin View a PDF of the paper titled Quantum Field-Theoretic Predictions of {\Psi}-Epistemic Models of Quantum Mechanics, by \.Inan\c{c} \c{S}ahin View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:$\Psi$-epistemic models of quantum mechanics imply that the quantum state does not correspond to physical reality, but instead reflects the observer's knowledge of the underlying quantum system. The epistemic view of the quantum state has the potential to shed light on several foundational problems of quantum theory and has attracted considerable attention in the literature. On the other hand, the Pusey-Barrett-Rudolph theorem demonstrated that broad classes of $\psi$-epistemic models must lead to predictions that deviate from those of quantum mechanics. Although the original theorem involved entangled joint measurements on composite systems, alternative no-go theorems involving measurements on single quantum systems were developed shortly thereafter. Experimental investigations of the deviations predicted by $\psi$-epistemic models from quantum mechanics are still ongoing. So far, such tests have been performed within the framework of non-relativistic quantum mechanics and predominantly rely on quantum information based measurement procedures. In this work, assuming that $\psi$-epistemic models respect Lorentz symmetry, we show that they can give rise to deviations from standard quantum field-theoretic predictions through modifications of polarized scattering cross sections and decay widths. Our results do not require a relativistic formulation of ontological models or of the Harrigan-Spekkens criterion; Lorentz symmetry alone is sufficient. The present work constitutes a proof-of-principle study demonstrating that particle physics tests of the ontological status of the quantum state are possible and that $\psi$-epistemic models may exhibit experimentally distinguishable signatures in particle phenomenology. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) Cite as: arXiv:2605.12546 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2605.12546v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.12546 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Submission history From: Inanc Sahin [view email] [v1] Sat, 9 May 2026 15:07:21 UTC (273 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Quantum Field-Theoretic Predictions of {\Psi}-Epistemic Models of Quantum Mechanics, by \.Inan\c{c} \c{S}ahinView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-05 Change to browse by: hep-ph References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)