De Broglie Bohm interpretation & virtual particles

In summary, the conversation discusses the de Broglie-Bohm, or Pilot Wave, interpretation of quantum mechanics and its relationship to virtual particles. The deBB interpretation is seen as a unification of the quantum and everyday worlds, but its limitation in describing virtual particles poses a challenge. QFT is an attempt to combine quantum and relativistic laws, and there are attempts to produce a relativistic version of deBB. However, virtual particles are considered a useful calculation tool and not necessarily a reflection of actual reality. The conversation also touches on the comparison between the Copenhagen Interpretation and deBB in terms of their development and understanding of conceptual questions.
  • #1
joseph0887
5
0
I sincerely apologise if this has been asked previously, I searched via Google and have been unable to find an answer I understand. How does the de Broglie-Bohm, or Pilot Wave, interpretation, well interpret virtual particles. The beauty of the deBB interpretation seems to be the unity of the quantum-world and the everyday world (no magic observation mysteriously collapsing an superposition, or splitting the multiverse), but virtual particles seem so indeterminate that they provide, in my understanding, difficilty for deBB.
If it helps you gauge the level of answer to give I studied physics in the UK until 18, and my university education was largely in medical biology. Though equations are appreciated for sake of completion...i doubt i will do any more than partially understand them.
 
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  • #2
deBB is an interpretation of the formalism of non-rel. QM. Virtual particles are a name for some mathematical aspects of an approximation (perturbation theory) of full quantum field theory QFT). Neither is deBB complete (not applicable to QFT) nor is the picture of virtual particles complete (limited applicability of perturbation theory).

You should not try to infer an interpretation of a limited formalism based on another limited formalism.
 
  • #3
Thankyou,
As I understood it QFT is an attempt to unify describe what happens to the laws of quantum physics when combined with relativistic laws, am I oversimplifying, or mistaken? Aren't there attempts to produce a relativistic version of deBB? If so do these attempt to define virtual particles? I apologise if the answer is again that the interpretation is too incomplete to make an viable description.
The copenhagen explanation seems, in layman's terms, to be vacuum energy is subject to Heisenberg uncertainty, virtual particles can arise for a short time, indeterministically, at random. Is this due to the Copenhagen Interpretation being more developed than deBB?
 
  • #4
tom.stoer said:
Neither is deBB complete (not applicable to QFT)
It is not true that deBB is not applicable to QFT. See e.g.
http://arxiv.org/abs/0904.2287 [Int. J. Mod. Phys. A25:1477-1505, 2010]
 
  • #5
Thankyou Mr.Nikolic, I will attempt to understand what you have written and then attempt to ask an intelligent question and less than 2 stupid questions.
 
  • #6
joseph0887 said:
As I understood it QFT is an attempt to unify describe what happens to the laws of quantum physics when combined with relativistic laws, am I oversimplifying, or mistaken?
That's perhaps slightly oversimplified, but essentially correct.

joseph0887 said:
Aren't there attempts to produce a relativistic version of deBB?
Of course. See e.g.
http://arxiv.org/abs/1205.1992

joseph0887 said:
If so do these attempt to define virtual particles? I apologise if the answer is again that the interpretation is too incomplete to make an viable description.
The interpretation is sufficiently complete to include the effects of virtual particles. However, just as in ordinary QFT, in Bohmian QFT virtual particles are merely a useful calculation tool not corresponding to actual reality.

joseph0887 said:
The copenhagen explanation seems, in layman's terms, to be vacuum energy is subject to Heisenberg uncertainty, virtual particles can arise for a short time, indeterministically, at random.
Well, that's what popular-science books say, but that's not exactly how professional physicists think of it.

joseph0887 said:
Is this due to the Copenhagen Interpretation being more developed than deBB?
No. In fact, concerning conceptual questions of the kind you ask, deBB is much better developed that Copenhagen, in the sense that deBB provides a more consistent intuitive picture of what might really going on when nobody observes.
 
  • #7
joseph0887 said:
Thankyou Mr.Nikolic, I will attempt to understand what you have written and then attempt to ask an intelligent question and less than 2 stupid questions.
You are welcome! :smile:
By the way, stupid questions are sometimes better than the intelligent ones. :wink:
 

1. What is the De Broglie Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics?

The De Broglie Bohm interpretation, also known as the pilot wave theory, is an alternative interpretation of quantum mechanics that proposes that particles have definite positions and velocities at all times, unlike the mainstream interpretation which states that particles exist in a state of superposition until they are observed.

2. How does the De Broglie Bohm interpretation explain the phenomenon of wave-particle duality?

In the De Broglie Bohm interpretation, particles are guided by a pilot wave, which is a non-local, hidden variable that determines the particle's trajectory. This pilot wave causes the particle to exhibit wave-like behavior, explaining the phenomenon of wave-particle duality.

3. What are virtual particles in the De Broglie Bohm interpretation?

In the De Broglie Bohm interpretation, virtual particles are considered to be actual particles that are guided by the pilot wave but do not have enough energy to become detectable. They play a role in quantum field theory and are responsible for the creation and annihilation of particles.

4. How does the De Broglie Bohm interpretation address the measurement problem in quantum mechanics?

The measurement problem in quantum mechanics refers to the issue of how a particle's wave function collapses into a definite state upon measurement. In the De Broglie Bohm interpretation, the particle already has a definite position and the measurement simply reveals it, eliminating the need for a wave function collapse.

5. What are the criticisms of the De Broglie Bohm interpretation?

One of the main criticisms of the De Broglie Bohm interpretation is that it introduces hidden variables and non-locality, which go against the principles of Occam's razor and special relativity. It also has difficulty explaining certain quantum phenomena, such as entanglement and quantum tunneling. Additionally, the theory is not widely accepted by the scientific community and is considered a minority interpretation of quantum mechanics.

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