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arxiv: 2604.06450 · v1 · submitted 2026-04-07 · 🪐 quant-ph · physics.bio-ph

Agent Choice via Quantum Flux in Living Systems

R. E. Kastner This is my paper

Pith reviewed 2026-05-10 18:52 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification 🪐 quant-ph physics.bio-ph
keywords agentchoicesquantumchoicefluxintentionallawsliving
0
0 comments X

The pith

Intentional choices by living organisms arise from a many-to-one mapping of quantum states, consistent with physical laws.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The paper proposes a model named Agent Choice via Quantum Flux to provide a physical basis for intentional choices in biological organisms. It uses the idea that multiple quantum states can correspond to the same choice, analogous to how many microstates map to one macrostate in thermodynamics. This setup permits choices that are not predetermined by physical laws yet remain fully consistent with quantum mechanics. Readers interested in the intersection of physics and agency would find this relevant as it attempts to reconcile indeterminism with law-like behavior in living systems.

Core claim

The model allows for intentional choices not pre-determined by physical laws, but remaining consistent with those laws, by exploring a possible many-to-one relation of quantum states to agent choices, with a parallel to the relation of thermodynamic microstates to macrostates.

What carries the argument

The many-to-one relation between quantum states and agent choices in the Agent Choice via Quantum Flux model.

Load-bearing premise

A many-to-one mapping from quantum states to intentional agent choices can be defined to introduce genuine non-determinism from the agent without extra physical postulates.

What would settle it

Observing or proving that no such mapping exists that provides non-predetermined choices while exactly matching quantum predictions would disprove the model.

read the original abstract

A basic model is provided that places active, intentional choices by biological organisms on a solid physical footing. The model is provisionally called "Agent Choice via Quantum Flux." It brings to bear specific physics on living systems in a way that allows for intentional choices not pre-determined by physical laws, but remaining consistent with those laws. It does so by exploring a possible many-to-one relation of quantum states to agent choices, with a parallel to the relation of thermodynamic microstates to macrostates.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Referee Report

2 major / 1 minor

Summary. The manuscript proposes a conceptual model called 'Agent Choice via Quantum Flux' that places intentional choices by biological organisms on a physical footing. It does so by positing a many-to-one relation between quantum states and agent choices, analogous to the thermodynamic relation between microstates and macrostates, thereby allowing choices that are not pre-determined by physical laws yet remain consistent with them.

Significance. If a rigorous, explicit many-to-one mapping from quantum states to intentional choices could be constructed while preserving unitary evolution, Born-rule statistics, and attributing non-determinism specifically to the agent without new postulates, the result would be significant for quantum foundations and the physics of agency. It would offer a mechanism for non-predetermined choice in living systems grounded in existing physics rather than additional assumptions.

major comments (2)
  1. [Abstract] Abstract: The central claim is that a basic model is provided via exploration of a possible many-to-one relation of quantum states to agent choices. No explicit mapping, Hilbert-space construction, or derivation is supplied to show how this relation avoids pre-determination while maintaining consistency with unitary quantum mechanics and the Born rule.
  2. [Main text] Main text: The proposed mechanism relies on defining a specific many-to-one mapping that attributes genuine non-determinism to the agent. The manuscript offers only the thermodynamic analogy and the assertion that such a mapping is possible; it contains neither an explicit function nor a proof that the resulting coarse-graining preserves quantum statistics without circularity or additional postulates.
minor comments (1)
  1. [Abstract] The term 'Quantum Flux' is introduced as the provisional name of the model but is not defined in terms of any standard physical quantity or operator.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

2 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for their careful reading and for acknowledging the potential significance of the proposed conceptual framework. We agree that the manuscript is exploratory and does not contain an explicit mathematical construction. Below we respond point by point to the major comments, indicating where revisions will be made to better reflect the scope of the work.

read point-by-point responses

  1. Referee: [Abstract] The central claim is that a basic model is provided via exploration of a possible many-to-one relation of quantum states to agent choices. No explicit mapping, Hilbert-space construction, or derivation is supplied to show how this relation avoids pre-determination while maintaining consistency with unitary quantum mechanics and the Born rule.

    Authors: We accept the referee's observation. The manuscript presents a conceptual proposal that invokes the thermodynamic analogy to indicate how a many-to-one relation between quantum states and agent choices could be consistent with existing quantum mechanics. No explicit Hilbert-space construction or derivation is supplied because the work is limited to outlining the physical principle rather than constructing a complete model. We will revise the abstract to state explicitly that the contribution is conceptual and exploratory, intended to identify a direction for subsequent formal development. revision: yes

  2. Referee: [Main text] The proposed mechanism relies on defining a specific many-to-one mapping that attributes genuine non-determinism to the agent. The manuscript offers only the thermodynamic analogy and the assertion that such a mapping is possible; it contains neither an explicit function nor a proof that the resulting coarse-graining preserves quantum statistics without circularity or additional postulates.

    Authors: The referee is correct that no explicit function or proof is given. The manuscript relies on the established precedent in statistical mechanics, where many-to-one mappings are used without requiring a complete microstate-by-microstate derivation in every application. We maintain that consistency with unitary evolution and Born-rule statistics can follow from treating the agent's choice as a coarse-graining over an ensemble of quantum states, but we recognize that this remains an analogy at present. We will add a dedicated paragraph in the main text that discusses the current limitations, clarifies that no additional postulates are introduced beyond the analogy itself, and notes the need for future work to formalize the mapping without circularity. revision: partial

Circularity Check

1 steps flagged

The many-to-one quantum-to-choice mapping is introduced to explain agency but defined in terms of the intentional outcomes it is meant to derive.

specific steps
  1. self definitional [Abstract]
    "It does so by exploring a possible many-to-one relation of quantum states to agent choices, with a parallel to the relation of thermodynamic microstates to macrostates."

    The relation is not derived from QM evolution or thermodynamics but is introduced specifically to accommodate intentional choices not pre-determined by physical laws. The outcome (agency) is thus built into the definition of the 'flux' mechanism rather than obtained from it.

full rationale

The paper's central step posits a many-to-one relation between quantum states and agent choices as the mechanism allowing non-predetermined intentionality while remaining consistent with QM. However, this relation is not constructed from independent QM principles or shown to preserve Born statistics under coarse-graining; it is asserted precisely because it permits the desired agency. The thermodynamic analogy is invoked but does not supply the missing explicit Hilbert-space mapping or proof of consistency without new postulates. This reduces the claimed derivation to a self-definitional re-labeling of the target phenomenon.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 2 axioms · 1 invented entities

The proposal rests on two standard background results from quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics plus one newly introduced entity whose properties are not independently specified.

axioms (2)
  • standard math Quantum mechanics permits many-to-one mappings from underlying states to observed outcomes.
    Invoked directly in the description of the agent-choice mapping.
  • standard math Thermodynamic macrostates correspond to large numbers of microstates.
    Used as the explicit parallel for the proposed quantum-to-choice relation.
invented entities (1)
  • Quantum Flux no independent evidence
    purpose: To realize the many-to-one mapping that enables non-predetermined intentional choice.
    New term introduced without specified physical properties, equations, or falsifiable predictions.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.0 · 5359 in / 1558 out tokens · 41970 ms · 2026-05-10T18:52:43.005004+00:00 · methodology

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Reference graph

Works this paper leans on

3 extracted references · 3 canonical work pages

  1. [1]

    Agent Choice via Quantum Flux

    Agent Choice via Quantum Flux in Living Systems Ruth E. Kastner University of Maryland, College Park January 13, 2026 ABSTRACT. A basic model is provided that places active, intentional choices by biological organisms on a solid physical footing. The model is provisionally called "Agent Choice via Quantum Flux." It brings to bear specific physics on living...

    work page 2026

  2. [2]

    cogs in a deterministic machine

    Of course, many important questions remain: How is it that the cell senses the information represented by the choice-ready states of individual quantum systems? How exactly are specific quantum observables brought to bear to implement the choice, and 2 In fact, an argument can be made, based on Leibniz's Principle of Su?icient Reason, that the lack of a de...

    work page 1979

  3. [3]

    The Born Rule and Free Will,

    Kastner, Ruth E. (2016). "The Born Rule and Free Will, " in Probing the Meaning of Quantum Mechanics, Eds. D. Aerts et al, World Scientific. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789813146280_0009; preprint: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/11893/ Sider, T. (2005). “Free Will and Determinism” , in E. Conee and T. Sider, eds., Riddles of Existence. Oxford: Clarendon Pre...

    work page doi:10.1142/9789813146280_0009 2016