[Paper Review] New Stringy Physics beyond Quantum Mechanics from the Feynman Path Integral

Donatello Dolce|arXiv (Cornell University)|Mar 22, 2021

Biofield Effects and Biophysics4 citations

TL;DR

This paper proposes that quantum mechanics emerges from compact, cyclic world-lines of elementary particles—interpreted as intrinsic time cycles at Compton scales—using the Feynman Path Integral to derive a novel four-dimensional stringy theory (Elementary Cycle String Theory, ECST). The key result is that quantum behavior arises from ultra-fast, deterministic cyclic dynamics in Minkowski spacetime, offering a unified, deterministic, and falsifiable framework beyond standard quantum mechanics.

ABSTRACT

By investigating the Feynman Path Integral we prove that elementary quantum particle dynamics are directly associated to single compact (cyclic) world-line parameters, playing the role of the particles' internal clock, implicit in ordinary undulatory mechanics and indirectly observed for instance in Time Crystals. This allows us to formulate a novel purely four-dimensional stringy description of elementary particles as possible physics beyond quantum mechanics. The novelty of this approach is that quantum mechanics originates from a non-trivial compact nature of the minkowskian space-time. Our result is a further evidence in support of Elementary Cycles Theory (ECT), which in previous papers has been proven to be consistent with known physics from theoretical particle physics to condensed matter. Here we provide additional conceptual arguments in support to this novel unified scenario of quantum and relativistic physics, potentially deterministic, and fully falsifiable having no fine-tunable parameters. The first evidences of such new physics characterized by ultra-fast cyclic time dynamics will be observed by probing quantum phenomena with experimental time accuracy of the order of $10^{-21}$ $sec$. Considerations about the emergence of the arrow of time from the realm of pure, zero temperature, quantum physics governed by intrinsic time periodicity are also provided. Concerning Einstein's dilemma "God does not play dice" we conclude that, all in all, "God" would have no fun playing quantum dice.

Motivation & Objective

• To re-express quantum mechanics as an effective description of ultra-fast, compact cyclic dynamics in Minkowski spacetime.
• To resolve Einstein’s concern about quantum indeterminacy by showing that quantum outcomes could be deterministic if time resolution were sufficient.
• To unify quantum and relativistic physics through a novel, falsifiable, parameter-free framework based on intrinsic time periodicity.
• To provide a geometric, four-dimensional string-like description of elementary particles without extra dimensions.
• To explain the emergence of the arrow of time from intrinsic quantum periodicity in zero-temperature systems.

Proposed method

• Reformulate the Feynman Path Integral using cyclic paths labeled by winding numbers, implying compact world-lines at Compton scales.
• Identify the Compton wavelength as the fundamental period of intrinsic time cycles, linking to de Broglie wave-particle duality.
• Derive a classical, cyclic world-line dynamics for elementary particles as the origin of quantum interference and probability amplitudes.
• Construct a four-dimensional string theory (ECST) where particles are one-dimensional compactified world-lines, not two-dimensional world-sheets.
• Demonstrate that gauge and gravitational interactions emerge from the same geometric framework via modulated space-time compactification.
• Use holographic duality to show that particle dynamics are encoded in the shape of their space-time boundary, supporting a unified description.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 Can the Feynman Path Integral be consistently reformulated in terms of compact, cyclic world-lines with winding-number labeling?
• RQ2 How does intrinsic time periodicity at Compton scales give rise to the statistical, probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics?
• RQ3 What is the role of compact time in unifying quantum mechanics and relativity without extra dimensions?
• RQ4 How does the intrinsic periodicity of zero-temperature quantum systems relate to the thermodynamic arrow of time?
• RQ5 What experimental signatures can be derived for this new physics beyond quantum mechanics?

Key findings

• The Feynman Path Integral can be equivalently formulated using cyclic paths labeled by winding numbers, implying a compact, periodic structure of relativistic spacetime at the Compton scale.
• Elementary particles are fundamentally compact world-lines—'elementary clocks'—whose cyclic dynamics underlie quantum mechanics as a low-time-resolution effective description.
• A novel four-dimensional string theory (ECST) emerges, where particles are one-dimensional cycles in spacetime, avoiding the need for extra dimensions.
• Quantum electrodynamics and gauge/gravity duality are naturally reproduced as geometric consequences of the compact world-line structure.
• The theory predicts that new physics beyond quantum mechanics will be observable with experimental time resolution of ~10⁻²¹ seconds.
• The entropic arrow of time emerges from the transition of intrinsic, coherent time periodicity in isolated systems to statistical behavior in thermodynamic ensembles.