Quantum Equilibrium and the Role of Operators as Observables in Quantum Theory

Abstract

Bohmian mechnaics is the most naively obvious embedding imaginable of Schrödingers's equation into a completely coherent physical theory. It describes a world in which particles move in a highly non-Newtonian sort of way, one which may at first appear to have little to do with the spectrum of predictions of quantum mechanics. It turns out, however, that as a consequence of the defining dynamical equations of Bohmian mechanics, when a system has wave function $\psi$ its configuration is typically random, with probability density $\rho$ given by $|\psi {|}^2$, the quantum equilibrium distribution. It also turns out that the entire quantum formalism, operators as observables and all the rest, naturally emerges in Bohmian mechanics from the analysis of ``measurements.'' This analysis reveals the status of operators as observables in the description of quantum phenomena, and facilitates a clear view of the range of applicability of the usual quantum mechanical formulas.

77 pages

References in corpus (2)

• Hidden Variables and the Two Theorems of John Bell
• Quantum Equilibrium and the Origin of Absolute Uncertainty

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