100 Years of Quanta: Complex-Dynamical Origin of Planck's Constant and Causally Complete Extension of Quantum Mechanics

Abstract

On 14 December 1900 Max Planck first formulated the idea of energy quanta related to a new universal constant now known as Planck's constant. Despite the following progress of thus initiated "quantum mechanics", the physical origin of both quantization and universality of Planck's constant remains mysterious, as well as other "peculiar" properties of quantum dynamics. In this paper we review a recent causal extension of quantum mechanics consistently explaining all its "mysteries" by irreducibly complex, "dynamically multivalued" behaviour of the underlying system of two interacting protofields (quant-ph/9902015, quant-ph/9902016). The theory contains no imposed postulates or entities except one, unavoidable assumption about the physical nature of the protofields. All the observed entities and their properties, starting from physically real space, time, and elementary particle structure, are consistently derived, in exact correspondence with their emergence in real, irreducibly complex system dynamics. The latter provides also natural (dynamic) unification of the causally extended versions of quantum mechanics, relativity, and field theory, including unification and causal understanding of particle interaction forces. Realism and wholeness of the obtained world picture are in agreement with the "absolute reality" quest of Max Planck and confirm his famous doubts about the conventional scheme of quantum mechanics (cf. quant-ph/9911107, quant-ph/0101129). We describe various applications of the obtained results providing successful solution to many fundamental and practical problems dangerously stagnating within conventional approaches.