The randomness of the quantum world might be an illusion caused by the fact that the 'present' is just an average of the 'future' flowing backward.
April 17, 2026
Original Paper
Can present be the average of the future?
arXiv · 2604.11968
The Takeaway
Since Einstein’s day, the 'Born rule'—which says quantum events are fundamentally random—has driven physicists crazy because it implies the universe is based on luck. This paper proposes a wild alternative: the universe is actually deterministic, but the future is influencing the present through time-symmetry. It suggests that what we see as a 'random' quantum outcome is actually just the middle point of two events traveling in opposite directions through time. If this is true, the universe doesn't play dice; it just looks that way because we only see half of the equation. It would mean that the 'future' is already baked into the 'now,' fundamentally changing our understanding of free will and causality.
From the abstract
We introduce a two state vector formalism of quantum mechanics by generalizing Bell's hidden variable model to higher dimensions and by attributing a physical significance (a state evolving backward in time) to the hidden variable. A simple deterministic and time symmetric rule for measurement outcomes allows us to obtain the Born rule. It turns out that probabilistic outcomes can be derived from a deterministic assignment and averaging over all possible future states traveling backward in time.