On the emergence of quantum mechanics from stochastic processes

arXiv:2602.22095 · quant-ph · Submitted 2026-02-25 · Read on arXiv

quant-ph

Submitted: 2026-02-25

Updated: 2026-10-19

Comments: 44 pages, 1 figure. v2: corrected typos and expanded the discussion in Section 6. v3: substantially revised and reorganized; added stochastic realizer existence results and an obstruction to Markovian realizers based on distinguishability revival. Expanded context-dependent continuations, state tomography and physical measurement, including faithful recording

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The gist: The stochastic--quantum correspondence reinterprets quantum dynamics in terms of an underlying stochastic process on a configuration space.

Terminology

Abstract

The stochastic--quantum correspondence reinterprets quantum dynamics in terms of an underlying stochastic process on a configuration space. We generalize its lifting prescription, overcoming restrictions on the reachable density matrices without enlarging the configuration space or its associated Hilbert space. A compatibility relation and Kraus dictionary connect stochastic kernels to completely positive, trace-preserving (CPTP) maps: every finite-dimensional kernel admits a compatible lift, and these lifts collectively encompass all quantum channels as the kernels vary. We describe sufficiently regular composable CPTP dynamics through time-local Lindblad generators. We establish that every rooted quantum dynamical family admits a stochastic realizer on the same configuration space, and that a revival of configuration-space distinguishability rules out every Markovian realizer on that space. We show how the predictive information carried by off-diagonal degrees of freedom in a compatible composable lift is encoded in the continuation probabilities of a family of context-dependent stochastic processes. We also analyze physical measurement by separating active basis rotations from configuration recording. The rooted quantum probabilities alone do not enforce faithfulness in idealized recording interactions; nevertheless, we show that a faithful stochastic realizer always exists.

Related papers