  Recent experiments have shown that certain fluid-mechanical systems, namely
oil droplets bouncing on oil films, can mimic a wide range of quantum
phenomena, including double-slit interference, quantization of angular momentum
and Zeeman splitting. Here I investigate what can be learned from these systems
concerning no-go theorems as those of Bell and Kochen-Specker. In particular, a
model for the Bell experiment is proposed that includes variables describing a
'background' field or medium. This field mimics the surface wave that
accompanies the droplets in the fluid-mechanical experiments. It appears that
quite generally such a model can violate the Bell inequality and reproduce the
quantum statistics, even if it is based on local dynamics only. The reason is
that measurement independence is not valid in such models. This opens the door
for local 'background-based' theories, describing the interaction of particles
and analyzers with a background field, to complete quantum mechanics.
Experiments to test these ideas are also proposed.
