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Classical statistical mechanics is a ' crypto-deterministic' theory, where each element of the probability distribution of the dynamical variables specifying a given system evolves with time according to deterministic laws of motion; the whole uncertainty is contained in the form of the initial distributions. A theory based on such concepts could not give a satisfactory account of such non-deterministic effects as radioactive decay or spontaneous emission (cf. Whittaker (2)). Classical statistical mechanics is, however, only a special case in the general theory of dynamical statistical (stochastic) processes. In the general case, there is the possibility of 'diffusion' of the probability 'fluid', so that the transformation with time of the probability distribution need not be deterministic in the classical sense. In this paper, we shall attempt to interpret quantum mechanics as a form of such a general statistical dynamics.
Quantum Mechanics as a statistical theory by J. E. Moyal
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