About Position Measurements Which Do Not Show the Bohmian Particle Position
Yakir Aharonov, Lev Vaidman
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13 pages, LaTeX, 4 figures, contribution to "Bohmian Mechanics and Quantum Theory: An Appraisal," edited by J.T. Cushing, A. Fine, and S. Goldstein (Kluwer, to appear)
``Weak'', ``protective'', and ``delayed observation'' measurements are analyzed in the framework of the Bohm interpretation of quantum theory. It is argued that the above varieties of measurements manifest some difficulties of the Bohm interpretation since they show that Bohmian trajectories behave not as we would expect from a classical type model.
In Bohmian mechanics particles follow continuous trajectories, hence 2-time position correlations are well defined. Nevertheless, Bohmian mechanics predicts the violation of Bell inequalities. Motivated by this fact we investigate position measurements in Bohmian mechanics by coupling the particles to macroscopic pointers. This explains the violation of Bell inequalities despite 2-time position correlations. We relate this fact to so-called surrealistic trajectories that, in our model, correspond to slowly moving pointers. Next, we emphasize that the nice feature of Bohmian mechanics, which do…
We exhibit in a model with simple dynamics, specifically a particle in a square box or two particles in one dimensional boxes, that if an experimenter can prepare the initial wave function of a system, the maximal information about the positions of Bohmian particles that is compatible with "no signalling" is that they are distributed according to $|ψ(x)|^2$. In particular, the positions cannot be prepared independently from the wave function. Any sharper "actual" position of the particle must be inaccessible since it could be used to send signals instantaneously. This is a consequence of the n…
The Bohmian interpretation of quantum mechanics adds particle trajectories to the wave function and ensures that the probability distribution of the particle positions agrees with quantum mechanics at any time. This is not sufficient to avoid contradictions with quantum mechanics. There are correlations between particle positions at different times which cannot be reproduced with real particle trajectories. A simple rearrangement of an experimental test of the Bell-CHSH inequality demonstrates this.
Bohmian mechanics is a theory that provides a consistent explanation of quantum phenomena in terms of point particles whose motion is guided by the wave function. In this theory, the state of a system of particles is defined by the actual positions of the particles and the wave function of the system; and the state of the system evolves deterministically. Thus, the Bohmian state can be compared with the state in classical mechanics, which is given by the positions and momenta of all the particles, and which also evolves deterministically. However, while in classical mechanics it is usually tak…
We discuss whether position measurements in quantum mechanics can be contradictory with Bohmian trajectories, leading to what has been called \textquotedblleft surrealistic trajectories\textquotedblright\ in the literature. Previous work has considered that a single Bohmian position can be ascribed to the pointer. Nevertheless, a correct treatment of a macroscopic pointer requires that many particle positions should be included in the dynamics of the system, and that statistical averages should be made over their random initial values. Using numerical as well as analytical calculations, we sho…
In a recent article, Kiukas and Werner claim to have shown that Bohmian Mechanics does not make the same empirical predictions as ordinary Quantum Mechanics. More precisely, they have shown that ordinary Quantum Mechanics predicts maximal violations of the CHSH-Bell inequality for a certain experiment in which only position measurements are performed on two noninteracting entangled free non-relativistic particles. Kiukas and Werner claim that Bohmian Mechanics doesn't predict a violation of the CHSH-Bell inequality for that experiment. We explain that such claim is wrong and that the argument …
We show that in the framework of one-dimensional Bohmian Quantum Mechanics[1], for a particle subject to a potential undergoing a weak adiabatic change, the time averages of the particle's positions typically differ markedly from the ensemble averages. We Apply this result to the case where the weak perturbing potential is the back-action of a measuring device (i.e. a protective measurement). It is shown that under these conditions, most trajectories never cross the position measured (as already shown for a particular example in [3]).
The paper addresses the debate about the empirical status of particles versus wave functions in Bohmian quantum mechanics. It thereby clarifies questions and misconceptions about the role of the particles in the measurement process, the (un)reliability of position measurements ("surrealistic trajectories"), and the limited empirical access to particle positions ("absolute uncertainty"). Taking the ontological commitment of Bohmian mechanics seriously, all relevant empirical results follow from an analysis of the theory in terms of particle motions. Finally, we address the question, why particl…
Bohmian mechanics is an alternative interpretation of quantum mechanics. We outline the main characteristics of its non-relativistic formulation. Most notably it does provide a simple solution to the infamous measurement problem of quantum mechanics. Presumably the most common objection against Bohmian mechanics is based on its non-locality and its apparent conflict with relativity and quantum field theory. However, several models for a quantum field theoretical generalization do exist. We give a non-technical account of some of these models.
In a recent paper, Struyve et al. [Struyve W, De Baere W, De Neve J and De Weirdt S 2003 J. Phys. A 36 1525] attempted to show that the thought experiment proposed in [Golshani M and Akhavan O 2001 J. Phys. A 34 5259, quant-ph/0103101] cannot distinguish between standard and Bohmian quantum mechanics. Here, we want to show that, in spite of their objection, our conclusion still holds out.
Conventional relativistic quantum mechanics, based on the Klein-Gordon equation, does not possess a natural probabilistic interpretation in configuration space. The Bohmian interpretation, in which probabilities play a secondary role, provides a viable interpretation of relativistic quantum mechanics. We formulate the Bohmian interpretation of many-particle wave functions in a Lorentz-covariant way. In contrast with the nonrelativistic case, the relativistic Bohmian interpretation may lead to measurable predictions on particle positions even when the conventional interpretation does not lead t…
This paper analyses the phenomenon of entanglement exchange in Bohm's pilot wave interpretation of quantum mechanics. The interesting feature of the phenomenon is that systems become entangled without causal interaction; hence it is a useful situation for investigating the unique nature of interaction in Bohmian mechanics. The first two sections introduce, respectively, entanglement exchange in the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics, and the basic principles of Bohmian mechanics. The next section shows that the Bohmian interpretation makes the same experimental predictions about enta…
Several situations, in which an empty wave causes an observable effect, are reviewed. They include an experiment showing ``surrealistic trajectories'' proposed by Englert et al. and protective measurement of the density of the quantum state. Conditions for observable effects due to empty waves are derived. The possibility (in spite of the existence of these examples) of minimalistic interpretation of Bohmian Quantum Mechanics in which only Bohmian positions supervene on our experience is discussed.
This is an analysis of the recently published article `Quantum theory cannot consistently describe the use of itself' by D. Frauchiger and R. Renner~\cite{1}. Here I decipher the paradox and analyze it from the point of view of de Broglie-Bohm hidden variable theory (i.e., Bohmian mechanics). I also analyze the problem from the perspective obtained by the Copenhagen interpretation (i.e., the Bohrian interpretation) and show that both views are self consistent and do not lead to any contradiction with a `single-world' description of quantum theory.
In a recent article (New Journal of Physics 9, 165, 2007), Wiseman has proposed the use of so-called weak measurements for the determination of the velocity of a quantum particle at a given position, and has shown that according to quantum mechanics the result of such a procedure is the Bohmian velocity of the particle. Although Bohmian mechanics is empirically equivalent to variants based on velocity formulas different from the Bohmian one, and although it has been proven that the velocity in Bohmian mechanics is not measurable, we argue here for the somewhat paradoxical conclusion that Wisem…
The significance of proposals that can predict different results for standard and Bohmian quantum mechanics have been the subject of many discussions over the years. Here, we suggest a particular experiment (a two double-slit experiment) and a special detection process, that we call selective detection, to distinguish between the two theories. Using our suggested experiment, it is shown that the two theories predict different observable results at the individual level for a geometrically symmetric arrangement. However, their predictions are the same at the ensemble level. On the other hand, we…
We report on a Monte Carlo method that generates one-dimensional trajectories for Bohm's formulation of quantum mechanics that doesn't involve differentiation or integration of any equations of motion. At each time, t=nδt (n=1,2,3,...), N particle positions are randomly sampled from the quantum probability density. Trajectories are built from the sorted N sampled positions at each time. These trajectories become the exact Bohm solutions in the limits N->\infty and δt -> 0. Higher dimensional problems can be solved by this method for separable wave functions. Several examples are given, includi…
This paper is an introduction to the ideas of Bohmian mechanics, an interpretation of quantum mechanics in which the observer plays no fundamental role. Bohmian mechanics describes, instead of probabilities of measurement results, objective microscopic events. In recent years, Bohmian mechanics has attracted increasing attention by researchers. The form of a dialogue allows me to address questions about the Bohmian view that often arise.
Bohmian mechanics is a theory about point particles moving along trajectories. It has the property that in a world governed by Bohmian mechanics, observers see the same statistics for experimental results as predicted by quantum mechanics. Bohmian mechanics thus provides an explanation of quantum mechanics. Moreover, the Bohmian trajectories are defined in a non-conspiratorial way by a few simple laws.
According to Bohmian mechanics, we see the particle, not the pilot wave. But to make predictions we need to know the wave. How do we learn about the wave to make predictions, if we only see the particle? I show that the puzzle can be solved, but only thanks to decoherence.
The Wigner distribution function is a quasi-probability distribution. When properly integrated, it provides the correct charge and current densities, but it gives negative probabilities in some points and regions of the phase space. Alternatively, the Husimi distribution function is positive-defined everywhere, but it does not provide the correct charge and current densities. The origin of all these difficulties is the attempt to construct a phase space within a quantum theory that does not allow well-defined (i.e. simultaneous) values of the position and momentum of an electron. In contrast, …
The de Broglie - Bohm Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics assigns positions and trajectories to particles. We analyze the validity of a formula for the velocities of Bohmian particles which makes the analysis of these trajectories particularly simple. We apply it to four different types of particle detectors and show that three types of the detectors lead to "surrealistic trajectories", i.e., leave a trace where the Bohmian particle was not present.
We present a protocol for measuring Bohmian - or the mathematically equivalent hydrodynamic - velocities based on an ensemble of two position measurements, defined from a Positive Operator Valued Measure, separated by a finite time interval. The protocol is very accurate and robust as long as the first measurement uncertainty divided by the finite time interval between measurements is much larger than the Bohmian velocity, and the system evolves under flat potential between measurements. The difference between the Bohmian velocity of the unperturbed state and the measured one is predicted to b…
A derivation of the Bohm model, and some general comments about it, are given. A modification of the model which is formally local and Lorentz-invariant is introduced, and its properties studied for a simple experiment.
Bohmian mechanics, also known as pilot-wave theory or de Broglie-Bohm theory, is a formulation of quantum mechanics whose fundamental axioms are not about what observers will see if they perform an experiment but about what happens in reality. It is therefore called a "quantum theory without observers," alongside with collapse theories and many-worlds theories and in contrast to orthodox quantum mechanics. It follows from these axioms that in a universe governed by Bohmian mechanics, observers will see outcomes with exactly the probabilities specified by the usual rules of quantum mechanics fo…
Bohmian mechanics and the Ghirardi-Rimini-Weber theory provide opposite resolutions of the quantum measurement problem: the former postulates additional variables (the particle positions) besides the wave function, whereas the latter implements spontaneous collapses of the wave function by a nonlinear and stochastic modification of Schrödinger's equation. Still, both theories, when understood appropriately, share the following structure: They are ultimately not about wave functions but about ``matter'' moving in space, represented by either particle trajectories, fields on space-time, or a dis…
Weak values, obtained from weak measurements, attempt to describe the properties of a quantum system as it evolves from an initial to a final state, without practically altering this evolution. Trajectories can be defined from weak measurements of the position, or inferred from weak values of the momentum operator. The former can be connected to the asymptotic form of the Feynman propagator and the latter to Bohmian trajectories. Employing a time-dependent oscillator as a model, this work analyzes to what extent weak measurements can shed light on the underlying dynamics of a quantum system ex…
In this article, we investigate Bohm's view of quantum theory, especially Bohm's quantum potential, from a new perspective. We develop a quasi-Newtonian approach to Bohmian mechanics. We show that to arrive at Bohmian formulation of quantum mechanics, there is no necessity to start from the Schrödinger equation. We also obtain an equation that restricts the possible forms of quantum potential and determines the functional form of it without appealing to the wave function and the Schrödinger equation. Finally, we discuss about the significance of quantum potential in the conceptual structure of…
The generic Bohmian trajectories are calculated for an isolated particle in an approximate energy eigenstate, for an arbitrary one-dimensional potential well. It is shown, that the necessary and sufficient condition for there to be a negligible probability of the trajectory deviating significantly from the classical trajectory at any stage in the motion is, that the state be a narrowly localised wave packet. The properties of the Bohmian trajectories are discussed in relationship to the theory of retrodictively optimal simultaneous measurements of position and momentum which was presented in s…
Within the de Broglie-Bohm (dBB) theory, the measurement process and the determination of its outcome are usually discussed in terms of the effect of the Bohmian positions of the measured system S. %} This article shows that the Bohmian positions associated with the measurement apparatus M can actually play a crucial role in the determination of the result of measurement. Indeed, in many cases, the result is practically independent of the initial value of a Bohmian position associated with S, and determined only by those of M. The measurement then does not reveal the value of any pre-existing …
We discuss a recently proposed extension of Bohmian mechanics to quantum field theory. For more or less any regularized quantum field theory there is a corresponding theory of particle motion, which in particular ascribes trajectories to the electrons or whatever sort of particles the quantum field theory is about. Corresponding to the nonconservation of the particle number operator in the quantum field theory, the theory describes explicit creation and annihilation events: the world lines for the particles can begin and end.
The paper argues that far from challenging - or even refuting - Bohm's quantum theory, the no-hidden-variables theorems in fact support the Bohmian ontology for quantum mechanics. The reason is that (i) all measurements come down to position measurements and (ii) Bohm's theory provides a clear and coherent explanation of the measurement outcome statistics based on an ontology of particle positions, a law for their evolution and a probability measure linked with that law. What the no-hidden-variables theorems teach us is that (i) one cannot infer the properties that the physical systems possess…
We discuss interferometers in Bohmian quantum mechanics. It is shown that, with the correct configuration space, Bohm trajectories in a which way interferometer are not surrealistic, but behaves exactly as common sense suggests. Some remarks about a way to generalize Bohmian mechanics to treat density matrix are also made. PACS: 03.65.Bz, 03.75.Dg Key words: Bohm Trajectories, Which Way Interferometers, ESSW
One of the important and famous topics in general theory of relativity and gravitation is the problem of geodesic deviation and its related singularity theorems. An interesting subject is the investigation of these concepts when quantum effects are considered. Since, the definition of trajectory is not possible in the framework of standard quantum mechanics (SQM), we investigate the problem of geodesic equation and its related topics in the framework of Bohmian quantum mechanics in which the definition of trajectory is possible. We do this in a fixed background and we do not consider the back-…
This work is about Bohmian mechanics, a non-relativistic quantum theory about the motion of particles and their trajectories, named after its inventor David Bohm (Bohm,1952). This mechanics resolves all paradoxes associated with the measurement problem in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. It accounts for quantum randomness, absolute uncertainty, the meaning of the wave function of a system, collapse of the wave function, and familiar (macroscopic) reality. We review the purpose for which Bohmian trajectories were invented: to serve as the foundation of quantum mechanics, i.e., to explain quan…
Even though the Bohmian trajectories given by integral curves of the conserved Klein-Gordon current may involve motions backwards in time, the natural relativistic probability density of particle positions is well-defined. The Bohmian theory predicts subtle deviations from the statistical predictions of more conventional formulations of quantum theory, but it seems that no present experiment rules this theory out. The generalization to the case of many particles or strings is straightforward, provided that a preferred foliation of spacetime is given.
Bohmian mechanics (BM) is a popular interpretation of quantum mechanics in which particles have real positions. The velocity of a point x in configuration space is defined as the standard probability current j(x) divided by the probability density P(x). However, this ``standard'' j is in fact only one of infinitely many that transform correctly and satisfy \dot P + \del . j=0. In this article I show that there is a unique j that can be determined experimentally as a weak value using techniques that would make sense to a classical physicist. Moreover, this operationally defined j equals the sta…
Classical physics is about real objects, like apples falling from trees, whose motion is governed by Newtonian laws. In standard Quantum Mechanics only the wave function or the results of measurements exist, and to answer the question of how the classical world can be part of the quantum world is a rather formidable task. However, this is not the case for Bohmian mechanics, which, like classical mechanics, is a theory about real objects. In Bohmian terms, the problem of the classical limit becomes very simple: when do the Bohmian trajectories look Newtonian?
Interpretations of quantum mechanics (QM), or proposals for underlying theories, that attempt to present a definite realist picture, such as Bohmian mechanics, require strong non-local effects. Naively, these effects would violate causality and contradict special relativity. However if the theory agrees with QM the violation cannot be observed directly. Here, we demonstrate experimentally such an effect: we steer the velocity and trajectory of a Bohmian particle using a remote measurement. We use a pair of photons and entangle the spatial transverse position of one with the polarization of the…
Recently, there has been progress in developing interior-boundary conditions (IBCs) as a technique of avoiding the problem of ultraviolet divergence in non-relativistic quantum field theories while treating space as a continuum and electrons as point particles. An IBC can be expressed in the particle-position representation of a Fock vector $ψ$ as a condition on the values of $ψ$ on the set of collision configurations, and the corresponding Hamiltonian is defined on a domain of vectors satisfying this condition. We describe here how Bohmian mechanics can be extended to this type of Hamiltonian…
Trajectories of a Bohmian particle confined in time-dependent cylindrical and spherical traps are computed for both contracting and expanding boxes. Quantum effective force is considered in arbitrary directions. It is seen that in contrast to the problem of a particle in an infinite rectangular box with one wall in motion, if particle initially is in an energy eigenstate of a tiny box the force is zero in all directions. Trajectories of a two-body system confined in the spherical trap are also computed for different statistics. Computations show that there are situations for which distance bet…
Bohmian mechanics (BM) draws a picture of nature, which is completely different from that drawn by standard quantum mechanics (SQM): Particles are at any time at a definite position, and the universe evolves deterministically. Astonishingly, according to a proof by Bohm the empirical predictions of these two very different theories coincide. From the very beginning, BM has faced all kinds of criticism, most of which are either technical or philosophical. There is, however, a criticism first raised by Correggi et al. (2002) and recently strengthened by Kiukas and Werner (2010), which holds that…
The many-fingered time (MFT) formulation of many-particle quantum mechanics and quantum field theory is a natural framework that overcomes the problem of "instantaneous collapse" in entangled systems that exhibit nonlocalities. The corresponding Bohmian interpretation can also be formulated in terms of MFT beables, which alleviates the problem of instantaneous action at a distance by using an ontology that differs from that in the standard Bohmian interpretation. The appearance of usual single-time particle-positions and fields is recovered by quantum measurements.
Based on the double-slit experiment of electrons, we suggest a proposal of thought experiment to distinguish between the Bohmian Interpretation (BI) and the Standard Quantum Mechanics (SQM). We mainly focus on the discussion of the meaning of the wave function (Schrödinger-$ψ$). The key technique is require to insert some slow-electrons or weak electron current into the space between the double-slit and the detector plane. We find that the two theories finally give out two totally different results about the affections which the externally inserted electrons cause to the original pattern of th…
This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the Bohmian formulation of quantum mechanics. It starts with a historical review of the difficulties found by Louis de Broglie, David Bohm, and John S. Bell to convince the scientific community about the validity and utility of Bohmian mechanics. Then, a formal explanation of Bohmian mechanics for nonrelativistic, single-particle quantum systems is presented. The generalization to many-particle systems, where the exchange interaction and the spin play an important role, is also presented. After that, the measurement process in Bohmian mechanics…
In an article published in 2010, Kiukas and Werner claim to have shown that Bohmian Mechanics does not make the same empirical predictions as ordinary Quantum Mechanics. We explain that such claim is wrong.
Bohm developed the Bohmian mechanics (BM), in which the Schrödinger equation is transformed into two differential equations: A continuity equation and an equation of motion similar to the Newtonian equation of motion. This transformation can be executed both for single-particle systems and for many-particle systems. Later, Kuzmenkov and Maksimov used basic quantum mechanics for the derivation of many-particle quantum hydrodynamics (MPQHD) including one differential equation for the mass balance and two differential equations for the momentum balance, and we extended their analysis in a prework…
I am concerned with two views of quantum mechanics that John S. Bell called ``unromantic'': spontaneous wave function collapse and Bohmian mechanics. I discuss some of their merits and report about recent progress concerning extensions to quantum field theory and relativity. In the last section, I speculate about an extension of Bohmian mechanics to quantum gravity.
We discuss a model of spontaneous collapse of the quantum state that does not require adding any stochastic processes to the standard dynamics. The additional ingredient with respect to the wave function is a position in the configuration space, which drives the collapse in a completely deterministic way. This new variable is equivalent to a set of positions of all the particles, i.e. a set of Bohmian positions, which obey the usual guiding equation of Bohmian theory. Any superposition of quantum states of a macroscopic object occupying different regions of space is projected by a localization…
A new quantum mechanical description of the dynamics of wave packet under continuous measurement is formulated via Bohmian mechanics. The solution to this equation is found through a wave packet approach which establishes a direct correlation between a classical variable with a quantum variable describing the dynamics of the center of mass and the width of the wave packet. The approach presented in this paper gives a comparatively clearer picture than approaches using restrited path integrals and master equation approaches. This work shows how the extremely irregular character of classical cha…