“Can the Transactional Interpretation make new predictions that are experi-
mentally testable, so that it can be verified or falsified?”
Answers
Answer:
A: No consistent interpretation of quantum mechanics can be tested experimen-
tally, because each is an interpretation of the same quantum mechanical formalism,
and the formalism makes the predictions. The Transactional Interpretation is an
exact interpretation of the QM formalism. Like the Many-Worlds and the Copen-
hagen interpretations, the TI is a “pure” interpretation that does not add anything
ad hoc, but does provide a physical referent for a part of the formalism that has
lacked one (e.g., the advanced wave functions appearing in the Born probability rule
and amplitude calculations). Thus the demand for new predictions or testability from
an interpretation is based on a conceptual error by the questioner that misconstrues
an interpretation as a modification of quantum theory. According to Occam’s Razor,
the hypothesis that introduces the fewest independent assumptions is to be preferred.
The TI offers this advantage over its rivals, in that the Born probability rule is a result
rather than an independent assumption.
The transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics (TIQM) takes the psi and psi* wave functions of the standard quantum formalism to be retarded (forward in time) and advanced (backward in time) waves that form a quantum interaction as a Wheeler–Feynman handshake or transaction.