Einstein locality: An ignored core element of quantum mechanics

Abstract

Quantum mechanics is commonly accepted as a complete theory thanks to experimental tests of non-locality based on Bell's theorem. However, we discover that the completeness of the quantum theory practically suffered from detrimental ignorance of a core element -- Einstein locality. Without this element, important experimental results of relevance could hardly receive full understanding or were even completely misinterpreted. Here we present the discovery with a theory of Einstein locality developed to recover the completeness of quantum mechanics. The developed theory provides a unified framework to account for the results of, e.g., Bell experiments (on Bell non-locality) and double-slit experiments with entangled photons (on wave-particle duality). The theory reveals the dynamics of Bell non-locality and the principle of biased sampling in measurement in the double-slit experiments, which otherwise will be impossible tasks without introducing Einstein locality. Worse still, ignorance of this element has caused misinterpretation of observations in the double-slit experiments, leading to perplexing statements of duality violation. Einstein locality also manifests indispensability in theory by its connection to the foundations of other fundamental concepts and topics (e.g., entanglement, decoherence, and quantum measurement) and may advance quantum technology by offering a promising approach to optimizing quantum computing hardware.