Towards a weak interpretation of the de Broglie-Bohm theory

M. R. Clover

Gillie Naaman-Marom, Noam Erez A, Lev Vaidman A

Michel Gondran, Alexandre Gondran

We define the de Broglie-Bohm (dBB) weak interpretation as the dBB interpretation restricted to particles in unbound states whose wave function is defined in the three-dimensional physical space, and the dBB strong interpretation as the usual dBB interpretation applied to all wave functions, in particular to particles in bound states whose wave function is defined in a 3N-dimensional configuration space in which N is the number of particules. We show that the current criticisms of the dBB interpretation do not apply to this weak interpretation and that, furthermore, there are theoritical and experimental reasons to justify the weak dBB interpretation. Theoretically, the main reason concern the continuity existing for such particles between quantum mechanics and classical mechanics: we demonstrate in fact that the density and the phase of the wave function of a single-particle (or a set of identical particles without interaction), when the Planck constant tends to 0, converges to the density and the action of a set of unrecognizable prepared classical particles that satisfy the statistical Hamilton-Jacobi equations. As the Hamilton-Jacobi action pilots the particle in classical mechanics, this continuity naturally concurs with the weak dBB interpretation. Experimentally, we show that the measurement results of the main quantum experiments (Young's slits experiment, Stern and Gerlach, EPR-B) are compatible with the de Broglie-Bohm weak interpretation and everything takes place as if these unbounded particles had trajectories. In addition, we propose two potential solutions to complete the dBB weak interpretation.

Jean Bricmont

Brownstein, Adam

The link between the de Broglie-Bohm interpretation and the hard problem of consciousness is investigated. We highlight that beables of the de Broglie-Bohm interpretation are not themselves qualia, but are intimately related to qualia. It is then argued that qualia are necessary for the de Broglie-Bohm interpretation, and conversely the de Broglie-Bohm interpretation (or similar theories) are necessary for qualia. Therefore, there is a reflexive two-way relationship between the beables of the de Broglie-Bohm interpretation and qualia such that they support the existence of each other. By using this reflexive argument, the hard problem of consciousness can be addressed via an indirect route.

Vera Matarese