LMU FAQ Bohmian Mechanics: Recent Episodes
Florian Hoffmann und Nicola Vona
Bohmian mechanics, also ofter referred to as the de Broglie-Bohm theory, is a theory of quantum phenomena based on a particle picture. It provides an ontologically clear and mathematically precise framework from which the entire quantum formalism can be deduced. This series covers some of the most frequently asked questions about Bohmian mechanics. It also addresses widespread criticism, misconceptions and confusions in a concise way. For further details we refer to our introductory lecture on Bohmian mechanics, also available on iTunes U.
- What exactly are the "empty" branches of the wave function in Bohmian mechanics?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- I have heard about surrealistic trajectories in Bohmian Mechanics, what are these trajectories and why are they called surrealistic?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- In Bohmian Mechanics one talks about the wave function of the universe. Why so? This seems like an inaccessible object.
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- What's the role of randomness in Bohmian mechanics? Quantum mechanics is a probabilistic theory while Bohmian mechanics is deterministic, how does randomness come about in Bohmian mechanics?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- Is there a relativistic version of Bohmian mechanics?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- Isn't the choice between Bohmian mechanics and quantum mechanics a philosophical problem, as both theories make the same empirical prediction?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- In Bohmian mechanics the electron in the Hydrogen atom, when in its ground state, stands still. Doesn't it fall into the nucleus?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- Is Bohmian mechanics not a hidden variable theory? There are various no-go theorems, ruling out hidden variable approaches. Does not for example Bell's Theorem or the Kochen-Specker Theorem prove Bohmian mechanics wrong?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- How does Bohmian mechanics account for spin and what's its role?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- One of the main devices for measuring particle trajectories are cloud chambers and the like. Do we see the Bohmian trajectory of a single particle there?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- Can one observe the trajectories of the Bohmian particles?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- Can one observe the positions of the Bohmian particles?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- In quantum mechanics the notion of a measurement seems to be central. What is a measurement in Bohmian mechanics? Are there special rules for the prediction of the outcomes of measurements derived from the Bohmian framework?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- Every measurable physical quantity should be represented by a self-adjoint operator. These operators are part of the axioms of quantum mechanics, though they don't seem to appear in Bohmian mechanics. How does one then describe measurements in Bohmian mechanics?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- In standard quantum mechanics the wave function of a system collapses upon observation. I always thought the collapse of the wave function was something essential. In Bohmian mechanics the wave function always evolves according to Schrödinger's equation and never collapses. How can that be? What is the collapse in Bohmian mechanics?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- Niels Bohr always insisted upon the statement that a measurement does not reveal any preexisting property of the system, but rather produces it. Does Bohmian mechanics disprove this statement?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- How does Bohmian Mechanics account for the double slit experiment? How can the interference pattern be there if we know that the particle went through just one of the slits?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- Is Bohmian mechanics not a step BACK to a classical theory?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- Why is the position representation special in Bohmian Mechanics? Aren't position and momentum equivalent in quantum mechanics?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- Is Bohmian mechanics not much more complicated than the easy formalism and the easy to apply rules of quantum mechanics?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- What about the particle wave dualism, how does it appear in Bohmian Mechanics?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- Is there any way to extract experimentally testable statements from Bohmian mechanics that differ from those of standard quantum mechanics, or are there new results of Bohmian mechanics one could test?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- How does Bohmian mechanics treat indistinguishable particles?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.
- Is Bohmian mechanics a fully developed theory or are crucial things still to be shown? Could it happen that it would be found inconsistent at some later time? What needs to be done in the future?
This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf
By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.