English

Evidence for Bohmian velocities from conditional Schrodinger equation

Quantum Physics 2012-10-10 v2 General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

Abstract

It is often argued that measurable predictions of Bohmian mechanics cannot be distinguished from those of a theory with arbitrarily modified particle velocities satisfying the same equivariance equation. By considering the wave function of a closed system in a state with definite total energy, we argue that a distinction in measurable predictions is possible. Even though such a wave function is time-independent, the conditional wave function for a subsystem depends on time through the time-dependent particle trajectories not belonging to the subsystem. If these trajectories can be approximated by classical trajectories, then the conditional wave function can be approximated by a wave function which satisfies Schrodinger equation in a classical time-dependent potential, which is in good agreement with observations. However, such an approximation cannot be justified for particle velocities significantly deviating from the Bohmian ones, implying that Bohmian velocities are observationally preferred.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1209.5196,
  title  = {Evidence for Bohmian velocities from conditional Schrodinger equation},
  author = {H. Nikolic},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1209.5196},
  year   = {2012}
}

Comments

10 pages, revised, arguments refined, new references

R2 v1 2026-06-21T22:09:52.613Z