Ze, decoherence, and the quantum eraser
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65649/39hf1h41Keywords:
Quantum Eraser, Decoherence, Generative Models, Measurement Problem, Variational Free Energy, Objective Collapse, Quantum FoundationsAbstract
The quantum eraser experiment, while confirming the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics, has persistently challenged intuitive understanding, often invoking concepts of retrocausality or the necessity of a conscious observer. This paper develops and articulates the Ze interpretation as a comprehensive framework that resolves these conceptual challenges without such metaphysical additions. We propose that quantum dynamics is fundamentally governed by the competition between two active generative models: a direct causal model (Model A, "particle-like") and a counterfactual wave model (Model B, "wave-like"). Decoherence is reinterpreted not as information loss, but as the environmental amplification of a structural incompatibility between these models, leading to a forced stabilization of the system into a state compatible with a single, definite narrative—a process we identify as physical collapse. The quantum eraser is shown to be an active intervention that dismantles this incompatibility by removing the environmental basis for discriminating between models, thereby restoring the conditions for a low-conflict consensus state that manifests as interference. This framework seamlessly unifies unitary evolution, decoherence, collapse, and erasure as facets of a single process of model competition and stabilization. It eliminates the need for an observer-centric explanation, replaces the "collapse" postulate with a dynamical physical mechanism, and yields novel, testable predictions regarding interference in complex systems and the dynamic nature of the quantum-classical threshold.
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