Quantization as an emergent phenomenon due to the matter-zeropoint field interaction

Instituto de Física, UNAM. Ap. Postal 20-364, 01000 México DF, Mexico.

Quantum mechanics is derived as an emergent phenomenon, produced by the permanent
interaction between matter and the background zero-point radiation field.
The starting point for the derivation is the assumption that the stochasticity of
quantum mechanics is due to the action of the fluctuating vacuum - specifically
the (continuous) zero-point electromagnetic radiation field of mean energy
(hbar.omega/2) per normal mode. Firstly, a thermodynamic and statistical analysis
of the consequence of the presence of this athermal energy leads (without quantum
assumptions) to the Planck distribution law, and hence to the quantization of the
energy exchange between matter and radiation field.[1]
Secondly, the problem of the quantization of matter is approached from the same
perspective. A detailed study of the dynamics of an (otherwise classical) particle
embedded in the random zero-point field shows that when the entire system eventually
reaches a situation of equilibrium, the material part of the system has acquired
characteristic quantum properties. In other words, when detailed energy balance
holds, the `quantum regime' is attained, as described by usual quantum mechanics.[2,3]
To obtain the quantum mechanical description it has been necessary to do a partial
averaging and to take the radiationless approximation; inclusion of the neglected
radiative terms allows to establish contact with quantum electrodynamics.[4]
Quantum mechanics emerges therefore as a partial, approximate and time-asymptotic
description of a phenomenon that in its original description is entirely local and causal.

[1] L. de la Peña, A. Valdés-Hernández and A. M. Cetto, Am. J. Phys. 76 (2008) 947.
[2] L. de la Peña, A. Valdés-Hernández and A. M. Cetto, Found. Phys. 39 (2009) 1240.
[3] L. de la Peña, A. Valdés-Hernández, A. M. Cetto and H. M. Franca, Physics Letters A 375 (2011) 1720.
[4] A. M. Cetto and L. de la Peña, to be published.

Luis de la Peña is Emeritus Professor at the Instituto de Física,
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). With a Ph. D. in
Theoretical Physics from Moscow State University (1964), his main area
of interest is the foundations of quantum theory, in which he has
contributed substantively to the stochastic theory of quantum
mechanics and stochastic electrodynamics. Author of more than 100
research papers and 10 books, among them a widely known university
text on quantum mechanics (in Spanish) and the research monograph The
Quantum Dice, with A. M. Cetto (Kluwer, 1996). Recipient of the
Presidential Award for Arts and Sciences (2002).

Ana María Cetto is Professor at the the Instituto de Física,
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). With a n M.D. in
Biophysics from Harvard University and a Ph. D. in Physics from UNAM
(1971), her main area of research is in the foundations of quantum
mechanics, with significant contributions to the stochastic theory of
quantum mechanics and stochastic electrodynamics. Previously Deputy
Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna,
2003-2010), she is also founding president of Latindex, online
information system for Ibero-American scholarly journals. Woman of the
Year (Mexico) 2003.

Andrea Valdés Hernández obtained her PhD in 2010 at the Universidad
Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), under the direction of Luis de la
Peña. She has contributed to the more recent developments of linear
stochastic electrodynamics, particularly approaching the problem of
entanglement between two particles from the perspective of such
theory. She is currently a post-doctoral fellow with the Optics and
Quantum Information group at the Universidade Federal do Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.