A Locally Deterministic, Detector-Based Model of Quantum Measurement

Abstract

This paper describes a simple, causally deterministic model of quantum measurement based on an amplitude threshold detection scheme. Surprisingly, it is found to reproduce many phenomena normally thought to be uniquely quantum in nature. To model an N-dimensional pure state, the model uses N complex random variables given by a scaled version of the wave vector with additive complex noise. Measurements are defined by threshold crossings of the individual components, conditioned on single-component threshold crossings. The resulting detection probabilities match or approximate those predicted by quantum mechanics according to the Born rule. Nevertheless, quantum phenomena such as entanglement, contextuality, and violations of Bell’s inequality under local measurements are all shown to be exhibited by the model, thereby demonstrating that such phenomena are not without classical analogs.