Bell’s concept of local causality does not preclude Bell correlations in local realist field ontologies

Introduction: Bell’s concept of local causality assumes more than local action. It also presumes an ontology of point particles. Bell correlations are feasible in nonlinear field ontologies with quantised interactions between suitably correlated participants. Materials and methods: Local causality is unsatisfactory for many reasons, not just Bell’s Theorem. The EPR paradox is due to metaphysical overcommitment to point models. An alternative, distributed concept of long-range interaction is appropriate for field ontologies. Inherently distributed field interaction quanta modify the causal structure of relations between observables. Results: Causal structure of Bell measurements in de Broglie–Bohm EPR experiments: Causal analysis of local realist field models violates Bell Inequalities without violating local action. Experimental Tests: Testable consequences include an observable range dependence of the coherence time of Bell states. Conclusions: Local realist field ontologies are not ruled out by the existence of Bell correlations in nature. The only “conflict” between quantum mechanics and relativity is because lightcone causal analysis effectively presumes a particle ontology.