Bohmian Trajectories as the Foundation of Quantum Mechanics

Abstract

Bohmian trajectories have been used for various purposes, including the numerical simulation of the time-dependent Schroedinger equation and the visualization of time-dependent wave functions. We review the purpose they were invented for: to serve as the foundation of quantum mechanics, i.e., to explain quantum mechanics in terms of a theory that is free of paradoxes and allows an understanding that is as clear as that of classical mechanics. Indeed, they succeed in serving that purpose in the context of a theory known as Bohmian mechanics, to which this article is an introduction.

14 pages LaTeX, no figures. This is an introduction to Bohmian mechanics, intended particularly for chemists. To appear in Pratim Chattaraj (editor): Quantum Trajectories. Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis (2010)