Global existence and uniqueness of Bohmian trajectories

Abstract

It is shown that Bohmian mechanics is internally consistent in the sense that the equations of motion typically have global solutions despite the fact that the velocity field is singular at the nodes of the wave function and at other points. This result is fundamental for the derivation of the quantum formalism. The role of the quantum flux is emphasized.

18 pages, LaTeX, contribution to "Bohmian Mechanics and Quantum Theory: An Appraisal," edited by J.T. Cushing, A. Fine, and S. Goldstein (Kluwer, to appear)