paper

Bohmian Mechanics and the Meaning of the Wave Function

arXiv:quant-ph/9512031

Abstract

We outline how Bohmian mechanics works: how it deals with various issues in the foundations of quantum mechanics and how it is related to the usual quantum formalism. We then turn to some objections to Bohmian mechanics, for example the fact that in Bohmian mechanics there is no back action of particle configurations upon wave functions. These lead us to our main concern: a more careful consideration of the meaning of the wave function in quantum mechanics, as suggested by a Bohmian perspective. We propose that the reason, on the universal level, that there is no action of configurations upon wave functions, as there seems to be between all other elements of physical reality, is that the wave function of the universe is not an element of physical reality. We propose that the wave function belongs to an altogether different category of existence than that of substantive physical entities, and that its existence is nomological rather than material. We propose, in other words, that the wave function is a component of physical law rather than of the reality described by the law.

15 pages, LaTeX, 1 figure, contribution to ``Experimental Metaphysics---Quantum Mechanical Studies in Honor of Abner Shimony,'' edited by R.S.Cohen, M. Horne, and J. Stachel, Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science (Kluwer, 1996)

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