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arXiv:1712.03372 · Cambridge University Press eBooks

Individuality and the Account of Nonlocality: The Case for the Particle Ontology in Quantum Physics

Michaël Esfeld

Published Apr 11, 2019• 30 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The paper explains why an ontology of permanent point particles that are individuated by their relative positions and that move on continuous trajectories as given by a deterministic law of motion constitutes the best solution to the measurement problem in both quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. This case is made by comparing the Bohmian theory to collapse theories such as the GRW matter density and the GRW flash theory. It is argued that the Bohmian theory makes the minimal changes, concerning only the dynamics and neither the ontology nor the account of probabilities, that are necessary to get from classical mechanics to quantum physics. There is no cogent reason to go beyond these minimal changes.

DOI
10.1017/9781108562218.014

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The paper explains why an ontology of permanent point particles that are individuated by their relative positions and that move on continuous trajectories as given by a deterministic law of motion constitutes the best solution to the measurement problem in both quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. This case is made by comparing the Bohmian theory to collapse theories such as the GRW matter density and the GRW flash theory. It is argued that the Bohmian theory makes the minimal changes, concerning only the dynamics and neither the ontology nor the account of probabilities, that are necessary to get from classical mechanics to quantum physics. There is no cogent reason to go beyond these minimal changes.
By means of the GRW flash theory and Bohmian mechanics, the paper shows how quantum mechanics accommodates a classical ontology of localised objects with a dynamics that describes the evolution of these objects. That dynamics is non-classical due to the entanglement of the wave function; but it can be entirely deterministic as illustrated by Bohmian mechanics. The wave function is a nomological parameter that can be construed according to any of the major philosophical stances with respect to laws. Against this background, the paper argues that quantum mechanics fits into the paradigm of modern physics as set out by Descartes. The far-reaching claims that call for receiving quantum mechanics as opening up a new paradigm of science are based on a confusion between science and scientism.
Recalling the state of the art in the interpretation of quantum physics, this paper emphasizes that one cannot simply add a collapse parameter to the Schrödinger equation in order to solve the measurement problem. If one does so, one is also committed to a primitive ontology of a configuration of matter in physical space in order to have something in the ontology that constitutes the determinate measurement outcomes. The paper then argues that in the light of this consequence, the collapse postulate loses its attractiveness in comparison to an ontology of persisting particles moving on continuous trajectories according to a deterministic law.
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the minimalist ontology of matter points and their dynamics in general philosophical as well as mathematical terms, independently of any particular physical theory. It shows how this ontology fits both classical mechanics of gravitation and quantum mechanics, as long as the latter includes a primitive ontology of matter distributed in ordinary space, as in Bohmian mechanics. The book points out the similarities between these two theories as well as their differences. It explains how in both cases one gets from an ontology and a dynamics defined for the universe as a whole to a description of subsystems of the universe and a dynamics for them. The book shows how an ontology of persisting particles that move according to a deterministic law can explain the characteristic phenomena of quantum field theory and ground its empirical predictions.
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 from observables; and that (ii) measurements, being an interaction like other interactions, change the state of the measured system.
Bohmian mechanics is endowed with an ontological package that supposedly allows to solve the main interpretational problems of quantum mechanics. We are concerned in this work by the emergence of classicality from the quantum mechanical substrate. We will argue that although being superficially attractive, the de Broglie-Bohm interpretation does not shed new light on the quantum-to-classical transition. This is due to nature of the dynamical law of Bohmian mechanics by which the particles follow the streamlines of the probability flow. As a consequence, Bohmian trajectories can be highly non-classical even when the wavefunction propagates along classical trajectories, as happens in semiclassical systems. In order to account for classical dynamics, Bohmian mechanics needs non-spreading and non-interfering wave packets: this is achieved for practical purposes by having recourse to decoherence and dense measurements. However one then faces the usual fundamental problems associated with the meaning of reduced density matrices. Moreover the specific assets of the de Broglie-Bohm interpretation – in particular the existence of point-like particles pursuing well-defined trajectories – would play no role in accounting for the emergence of classical dynamics.
The Super-Humean strategy is a purely philosophical one: in a nutshell, on this strategy, there is a relationalist ontology, but a non-relationalist physical theory. When it comes to quantum mechanics, a discussion of ontology makes sense only if one spells out to which version of the quantum mechanics one is committed—that is, how one solves the measurement problem. The quantum theory going back to de Broglie and D. Bohm is the most prominent of them. It is based on a primitive ontology of permanent point particles as in the classical mechanics. The dynamical structure that a physical theory introduces is in any case defined for the universe as a whole. For instance, as soon as there are dynamical parameters whose value is conserved throughout the universe—such as the total energy—there are global correlations in the motions of the matter points.