On the Speed of Light as a Key Element in the Structure of Quantum Mechanics

Abstract

We follow the assumption that relativistic causality is a key element in the structure of quantum mechanics and integrate the speed of light, c, into quantum mechanics through the postulate that the (reduced) Planck constant is a function of c with a leading order of the form ℏc∼Λ/cp for a constant Λ>0, and p>1. We show how the limit c→∞ implies classicality in quantum mechanics and explain why p has to be larger than 1. As the limit c→∞ breaks down both relativity theory and quantum mechanics, as followed by the proposed model, it can then be understood through similar conceptual physical laws. We further show how the position-dependent speed of light gives rise to an effective curved space in quantum systems and show that a stronger gravitational field implies higher quantum uncertainties, followed by the varied c. We then discuss possible ways to find experimental evidence of the proposed model using set-ups to test the varying speed of light models and examine analogies of the model based on electrons in semiconductor heterostructures.

Keywords

• classicality
• Planck constant
• quantum foundations
• speed of light