A Single Hidden Variable Interpretation of the Quantum Wave Function

A new interpretation of quantum mechanics is presented in which there is one hidden variable. This could be described as “partial realism” where sometimes quantum variables have real values before we measure and sometimes they don’t. While one hidden variable is insufficient to explain Bell nonlocality, it is allowed by Bell’s inequality. This can help solve the measurement problem and is in principle testable. In addition, a theory of nonlocality emerges directly from this assumption. From the perspective of an outside observer, not correlated with an observed system, we treat all interactions within the system as unitary. However, from the perspective of an “observer” inside the system, we treat all new entanglements as “micromeasurements”, as a projection onto some basis of measurement. One particle can act as a measurement device on another and give the other particle a defined value on one possible measurement axis from an inside perspective. This means that the wave function, from the outside view, will at times describe an objective, fundamentally stochastic uncertainty, at other times a subjective uncertainty that reflects only our lack of knowledge, and at yet other times a combination of both. The standard wave function describes the total uncertainty, the minimal uncertainty that is present for any observer outside of the system, whereas for an “observer” inside the system, only the objective, fundamentally stochastic part of the uncertainty remains, and this can be described by an inner wave function. The hidden variable is invisible to the outside observer.