Quantum nonlocality, and the end of classical space-time

Abstract

Quantum non-local correlations and the acausal, spooky action at a distance suggest a discord between quantum theory and special relativity. We propose a resolution for this discord by first observing that there is a problem of time in quantum theory. There should exist a reformulation of quantum theory which does not refer to classical time. Such a reformulation is obtained by suggesting that space-time is fundamentally non-commutative. Quantum theory without classical time is the equilibrium statistical thermodynamics of the underlying non-commutative relativity. Stochastic fluctuations about equilibrium give rise to the classical limit and ordinary space-time geometry. However, measurement on an entangled state can be correctly described only in the underlying non-commutative space-time, where there is no causality violation, nor a spooky action at a distance.