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arXiv:2601.03567

Local Scale Invariance in Quantum Theory: A Non-Hermitian Pilot-Wave Formulation

Indrajit Sen, Matthew Leifer

quant-phgr-qchep-thphysics.hist-phSubmitted Jan 7, 2026• Announced Jan 8, 2026• 0 citations• Revised Jan 11, 2026 (v2)
v1 · Jan 7, 2026v2 · Jan 11, 2026v3 · Jan 20, 2026v4 · Feb 9, 2026v5 · Feb 10, 2026
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Abstract

We show that Weyl's abandoned idea of local scale invariance has a natural realization at the quantum level in pilot-wave (deBroglie-Bohm) theory. We obtain the Weyl covariant derivative by complexifying the electromagnetic gauge coupling parameter. The resultant non-hermiticity has a natural interpretation in terms of local scale invariance in pilot-wave theory. The conserved current density is modified from $|ψ|^2$ to the local scale invariant, trajectory-dependent ratio $|ψ|^2/ \mathbf{1}^2[\mathcal{C}]$, where $\mathbf 1[\mathcal C]$ is a scale factor that depends on the pilot-wave trajectory $\mathcal C$ in configuration space. Our approach is general, and we implement it for the Schrödinger, Pauli, and Dirac equations coupled to an external electromagnetic field. We also implement it in quantum field theory for the case of a quantized axion field interacting with a quantized electromagnetic field. We discuss the equilibrium probability density and show that the corresponding trajectories are unique.

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20 pages, 3 figures

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We show that Weyl's abandoned idea of local scale invariance has a natural realization at the quantum level in pilot-wave (deBroglie-Bohm) theory. We obtain the Weyl covariant derivative by complexifying the electromagnetic gauge coupling parameter. The resultant non-hermiticity has a natural interpretation in terms of local scale invariance in pilot-wave theory. The conserved current density is modified from ∣ψ∣2|ψ|^2∣ψ∣2 to the local scale invariant, trajectory-dependent ratio ∣ψ∣2/12[C]|ψ|^2/ \mathbf{1}^2[\mathcal{C}]∣ψ∣2/12[C], where 1[C]\mathbf 1[\mathcal C]1[C] is a scale factor that depends on the pilot-wave trajectory C\mathcal CC in configuration space. Our approach is general, and we implement it for the Schrödinger, Pauli, and Dirac equations coupled to an external electromagnetic field. We also implement it in quantum field theory for the case of a quantized axion field interacting with a quantized electromagnetic field. We discuss the equilibrium probability density and show that the corresponding trajectories are unique.
We explore the experimental predictions of the local scale invariant, non-Hermitian pilot-wave (de Broglie-Bohm) formulation of quantum theory introduced in arXiv:2601.03567. We use Weyl's definition of gravitational radius of charge to obtain the fine-structure constant for non-integrable scale effects αSα_SαS​. The minuteness of αSα_SαS​ relative to ααα (αS/α∼10−21α_S/α\sim 10^{-21}αS​/α∼10−21) effectively hides the effects in usual quantum experiments. In an Aharonov-Bohm double-slit experiment, the theory predicts that the position probability density depends on which slit the particle trajectory crosses, due to a non-integrable scale induced by the magnetic flux. This experimental prediction can be tested for an electrically neutral, heavy molecule with mass m∼10−19gm \sim 10^{-19} \text{g}m∼10−19g at a ∼105 esu\sim 10^5 \text{ esu}∼105 esu flux regime. We analyse the Weyl-Einstein debate on the second-clock effect using the theory and show that spectral frequencies are history-independent. We thereby resolve Einstein's key objection against local scale invariance, and obtain two further experimental predictions. First, spectral intensities turn out to be history-dependent. Second, energy eigenvalues are modified by tiny imaginary corrections that modify spectral linewidths. We argue that the trajectory dependence of the probabilities renders our theory empirically distinguishable from other quantum formulations that do not use pilot-wave trajectories, or their mathematical equivalents, to derive experimental predictions.
The relation between de Broglie’s double-solution approach to quantum dynamics and the hydrodynamic pilot-wave system has motivated a number of recent revisitations and extensions of de Broglie’s theory. Building upon these recent developments, we here introduce a rich family of pilot-wave systems, with a view to reformulating and studying de Broglie’s double-solution program in the modern language of classical field theory. Notably, the entire family is local and Lorentz-invariant, follows from a variational principle, and exhibits time-invariant, two-way coupling between particle and pilot-wave field. We first introduce a variational framework for generic pilot-wave systems, including a derivation of particle-wave exchange of Noether currents. We then focus on a particular limit of our system, in which the particle is propelled by the local gradient of its pilot wave. In this case, we see that the Compton-scale oscillations proposed by de Broglie emerge naturally in the form of particle vibrations, and that the vibration modes dynamically adjust to match the Compton frequency in the rest frame of the particle. The underlying field dynamically changes its radiation patterns in order to satisfy the de Broglie relation p=ℏk at the particle’s position, even as the particle momentum p changes. The wave form and frequency thus evolve so as to conform to de Broglie’s harmony of phases, even for unsteady particle motion. We show that the particle is always dressed with a Compton-scale Yukawa wavepacket, independent of its trajectory, and that the associated energy imparts a constant increase to the particle’s inertial mass. Finally, we see that the particle’s wave-induced Compton-scale oscillation gives rise to a classical version of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
We present a new interpretation of quantum mechanics, called the double-scale theory, which expends on the de Broglie-Bohm (dBB) theory. It is based, for any quantum system, on the simultaneous existence of two wave functions in the laboratory reference frame : an external wavefunction and an internal one. The external wave function corresponds to a field that pilots the center-of-mass of the quantum system. The external wave spreads out in space over time. Mathematically, the Schrödinger equation converges to the Hamilton-Jacobi statistical equations when the Planck constant tends towards zero and the Newton trajectories are therefore approximations of the dBB trajectories. The internal wave function corresponds to the interpretation proposed by Edwin Schrödinger for whom the particle is extended. Then, the internal wave remains confined in space. Its converges, when h -> 0, to a Dirac distribution. Furthermore, we show that non-stationary solutions can exist such that the 3N-dimensional configuration space of the internal wave function can be rewritten as the product of N individual 3-dimensional internal wave functions.
In this thesis we study the de Broglie-Bohm pilot-wave interpretation of quantum theory. We consider the domain of non-relativistic quantum theory, relativistic quantum theory and quantum field theory, and in each domain we consider the possibility of formulating a pilot-wave interpretation. For non-relativistic quantum theory a pilot-wave interpretation in terms of particle beables can readily be formulated. But this interpretation can in general not straightforwardly be generalized to relativistic wave equations. The problems which prevent us from devising a pilot-wave interpretation for relativistic wave equations also plague the standard quantum mechanical interpretation, where these problems led to the conception of quantum field theory. Therefore most of our attention is focussed on the construction of a pilot-wave interpretation for quantum field theory. We thereby favour the field beable approach, developed amongst others by Bohm, Hiley, Holland, Kaloyerou and Valentini. Although the field beable approach can be successfully applied to bosonic quantum field theory, it seems not straightforward to do so for fermionic quantum field theory.
The de Broglie-Bohm (pilot wave) formulation of quantum theory appears to be free from the conceptual problems specific to quantum mechanics (problem of measurement) and to quantum cosmology (problem of time). We further study the extension of this formulation to the case of gravity and demonstrate that the foliation of spacetime by spacelike hypersurfaces obtained during the solution of the quantum problem turns out to be distinguished in general. This means that quantum pilot wave dynamics is not invariant with respect to an arbitrary change of foliation, or, in other terms, that quantum nonlocality takes place. We also discuss the general structure of a realistic pilot wave theory that could describe the universe.
The goal of this paper is an extension of the de Broglie wave mechanics model for a single spinless particle in an electromagnetic field. The analysis indicates that the motion of a particle separates naturally into particle dynamics through the classical Hamilton-Jacobi equation and quantum wave behavior through a pilot or interaction wave equation. The interaction wave equation travels at the classical particle velocity. We study gauge invariance and interpret it in the light of the interaction wave. The Heisenberg uncertainty relations are shown to be implicit in the interaction wave. We also develop a complex quantum-mechanical, relativistic energy-momentum conservation expression using a complex quantum-mechanical four-vector.