From Entropic Dynamics to Quantum Theory

Non-relativistic quantum theory is derived from information codified into an appropriate statistical model. The basic assumption is that there is an irreducible uncertainty in the location of particles so that the configuration space is a statistical manifold. The dynamics then follows from a principle of inference, the method of Maximum Entropy. The concept of time is introduced as a convenient way to keep track of change. The resulting theory resembles both Nelson's stochastic mechanics and general relativity. The statistical manifold is a dynamical entity: its geometry determines the evolution of the probability distribution which, in its turn, reacts back and determines the evolution of the geometry. There is a new quantum version of the equivalence principle: 'osmotic' mass equals inertial mass. Mass and the phase of the wave function are explained as features of purely statistical origin.