A Is Bohmian Mechanics incompatible with String Theory

[JG11]

Bohmian mechanics requires a preferred reference frame. But String theory doesn't have any preferred frames, so isn't BM incompatible with ST?? Maybe it would be compatible with other theories of quantum gravity that permit a preferred frame (LQG, CDT)...

 

[haushofer]

Do you have a reference for your first statement (BM requires...)?

 

[JG11]

Do you have a reference for your first statement (BM requires...)?

It is well known that bohmian mechanics has a preferred frame involved.

 

[atyy]

There has been some speculation that a preferred frame may be (approximately) compatible with string theory.

https://arxiv.org/abs/1106.4501
From Fixed Points to the Fifth Dimension
Raman Sundrum
"The sense in which AdS/CFT duality illustrates the possibility of emergent relativity, and the special role of strong coupling, are briefly discussed."

 

[martinbn]

Why do you ask about string theory? If a theory requires a preferred frame it will already be at tension with relativity.

 

[Demystifier]

Bohmian mechanics requires a preferred reference frame. But String theory doesn't have any preferred frames, so isn't BM incompatible with ST?? Maybe it would be compatible with other theories of quantum gravity that permit a preferred frame (LQG, CDT)...

Let me make a biological metaphor. Males have sperm. But females don't have any sperm, so aren't males incompatible with females?

The answer is of course no, because you need both beings (one without sperm and the other with) for a complete theory of reproduction. Similarly, Bohmian interpretation of a basic quantum theory (be it non-relativistic quantum mechanics, quantum field theory or string theory) adds something that is not present in the basic theory, without denying any equation of the basic theory. Bohmian interpretation claims that the basic version of the theory is incomplete, in the sense that it cannot explain how measurement outcomes are created. In my metaphor, it corresponds to the claim that a reproduction theory based only on females is incomplete because it cannot explain how babies are created.

That being said, I would add that there are versions of Bohmian mechanics for string theory that do not introduce a preferred frame. But they of course add something else that is not present in the basic version of the theory.

 

[Demystifier]

It is well known that bohmian mechanics has a preferred frame involved.

"Has" is not the same as "require". Most versions of Bohmian mechanics indeed have a preferred frame, but it is not a general requirement.

 

[JG11]

Let me make a biological metaphor. Males have sperm. But females don't have any sperm, so aren't males incompatible with females?

The answer is of course no, because you need both beings (one without sperm and the other with) for a complete theory of reproduction. Similarly, Bohmian interpretation of a basic quantum theory (be it non-relativistic quantum mechanics, quantum field theory or string theory) adds something that is not present in the basic theory, without denying any equation of the basic theory. Bohmian interpretation claims that the basic version of the theory is incomplete, in the sense that it cannot explain how measurement outcomes are created. In my metaphor, it corresponds to the claim that a reproduction theory based only on females is incomplete because it cannot explain how babies are created.

That being said, I would add that there are versions of Bohmian mechanics for string theory that do not introduce a preferred frame. But they of course add something else that is not present in the basic version of the theory.

Interesting. Can you link me to the interpretations of bohmian mechanics that do not introduce a preferred frame? What kind of physical consequences does a Bohmian String theory have which adds to the original theory?

 

[Demystifier]

Can you link me to the interpretations of bohmian mechanics that do not introduce a preferred frame?

In the case of string theory, see
https://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0512186
https://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0702060

What kind of physical consequences does a Bohmian String theory have which adds to the original theory?

https://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0605250

 

[JG11]

In the case of string theory, see
https://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0512186
https://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0702060https://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0605250

So there is no minimal length in the bohmian mechanics version of string theory? That's a huge change to the theory.