Antony Valentini
Antony Valentini | |
|---|---|
| Known for | Pilot-wave theory, quantum nonequilibrium and signal-locality |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Theoretical physics, foundations of quantum mechanics, cosmology |
| Institutions | Clemson University; formerly Imperial College London and Pennsylvania State University |
Antony Valentini is a theoretical physicist known for his work on the foundations of quantum mechanics, in particular the de Broglie–Bohm pilot-wave theory and the idea of "quantum nonequilibrium." He is listed in The Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists.
Ideas
Valentini works within hidden-variables approaches to quantum theory, in which the apparently random outcomes of quantum experiments are taken to be determined in advance by underlying parameters. He has proved a "signal-locality" theorem, arguing that deterministic hidden-variables theories reproduce standard quantum statistics only for a special "quantum equilibrium" distribution of the hidden variables, while hypothetical "nonequilibrium" ensembles would permit instantaneous (faster-than-light) signalling. He proposes that the universe relaxed to quantum equilibrium in its remote past, so that nonlocality is normally masked by quantum noise, and he has suggested that relic particles surviving from the very early universe might retain nonequilibrium properties enabling tasks such as faster-than-light communication or the breaking of quantum cryptography. These proposals lie outside the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics. He is the author of the book Beyond the Quantum.