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On David Bohm's Causal Interpretation of Quantum Potential and His Viewpoint of Nonlocality

Zhang Gui-quan

Published Jan 1, 2000• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

This paper introduces and analyses David Bohm's causal interpretation of quantum potential and his viewpoint of nonlocality. As the key of Bohm's causal interpretation of quantum theory, the interpretation of quantum potential has been paid serious attention to by Bohm since 1980's. Bohm reviews quantum potential from the perspective of information and puts forward some new views. Especially, Bohm probes into nonlocality on the basis of the view of quantum potential and active information. This is of great significance in both physics and philosophy.

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This paper introduces and analyses David Bohm's causal interpretation of quantum potential and his viewpoint of nonlocality. As the key of Bohm's causal interpretation of quantum theory, the interpretation of quantum potential has been paid serious attention to by Bohm since 1980's. Bohm reviews quantum potential from the perspective of information and puts forward some new views. Especially, Bohm probes into nonlocality on the basis of the view of quantum potential and active information. This is of great significance in both physics and philosophy.
Abstract The paper investigates David Bohm’s philosophy of science as a form of fallibilist realism that underpins his causal interpretation of quantum mechanics Bohm (Bohm 1952a, 1952b, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990; Bohm and Hiley 1975, 1984, 1993). Bohm’s central aim is to establish the superiority of his interpretation over the standard Copenhagen framework, particularly in contrast to that of Niels Bohr. Whereas Bohr asserts that knowledge of quantum phenomena is restricted to the statistical outcomes of measurement, Bohm’s approach is distinctly realist in orientation. Responding to the challenges posed by Einstein and other physicists, Bohm relies on extra-empirical criteria such as determinism, objectivity and intelligibility. The paper develops what will be termed the methodology of intuitive intelligibility (II), consisting of four stages: (1) reformulation of the standard quantum equations, (2) physical interpretation of the mathematical symbols, (3) drawing analogies with classical laws, and (4) drawing analogies with common experience. It is argued that Bohm applies the (II) methodology consistently, with the notable exception of the ontological status of the wave function and quantum potential. In attempting to explain causal relations from a 3N-dimensional configuration space (where N is the number of particles) to familiar three-dimensional space through an appeal to ‘information’, Bohm arguably commits a category mistake. A proposed resolution—drawing on Bohm’s own holistic analogies—is supported by the recent multi-field interpretation (Romano Multi-field and Bohm’s theory. Synthese, 198(30), 10587–10609, 2021). The term fallibilist realism aptly characterizes Bohm’s stance in the philosophy of science: he repeatedly emphasizes that the causal interpretation is not intended as a final theory. Nevertheless, holism constitutes a substantive ontological commitment that he is unwilling to abandon.
In two 1952 papers David Bohm proposed a hidden-variables interpretation of quantum theory, completing an approach de Broglie had suggested in 1927. An electron is a particle accompanied by a field, described by the wave function, which gives rise to a quantum potential influencing the particle alongside the classical potential. Bohm later became critical of his own theory: the mathematical form of the quantum potential is arbitrary; for a many-body system it assumes a physical field in 3N-dimensional configuration space; and in measurement it leaves empty wave packets floating around. He responded by radically reinterpreting the quantum field as a field of information rather than a physical field, claiming thereby to solve all three problems. This proposal has been largely ignored in recent philosophy of physics. I situate it in relation to the nomological interpretation of the wave function and its dispositionalist and Humean variants, arguing that active information agrees with the nomological view about what the wave function is not while differing about what it is, and that it belongs among property rather than law interpretations. I conclude that it is a serious live option, which moreover suggests a new approach to the mind–matter relation.
The causal interpretation of quantum mechanics, as originally stated by deBroglie and Bohm, had several attractive features. Among these is the possibility that it could address some of the most fundamental questions on quantum phenomena. However, subsequent theoretical conjectures, which have now been included in the orthodox view of the deBroglie Bohm theory, are unphysical and have done much to undermine the original theory's appeal. We, therefore, return to the original theory as our starting point and address one of its perplexing areas: the quantum potential. By avoiding the unphysical conjectures we are led to an understanding of the quantum potential which is distinctly different from that of the orthodox deBroglie Bohm view.