Episode Synopsis "What is the collapse in Bohmian mechanics?"

9. In standard quantum mechanics the wave function of a system collapses upon observation. I always thought the collapse of the wave function was something essential. In Bohmian mechanics the wave function always evolves according to Schrödinger's equation and never collapses. How can that be? What is the collapse in Bohmian mechanics? This series is aimed at answering FAQs about Bohmian mechanics and is mainly intended for students. The text is available at http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/BohmHome/files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Bohmian_Mechanics.pdf By Christian Beck, Robert Grummt, Florian Hoffmann, Sören Petrat, and Nicola Vona. We are grateful to Martin Oelker who played the asking student, and to Nils Hansen and Stephan Kulla who filmed the videos.

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More episodes of the podcast LMU FAQ Bohmian Mechanics

• FAQ about Bohmian mechanics – Introduction
• Why should we care about Bohmian Mechanics at all?
• What about the particle wave dualism, how does it appear in Bohmian Mechanics?
• How does Bohmian Mechanics account for the double slit experiment?
• Isn't the Heisenberg uncertainty relation in contradiction to the existence of trajectories?
• Why is the position representation special in Bohmian Mechanics?
• What is the role of the observer in Bohmian mechanics?
• What is a measurement in Bohmian mechanics?
• How does one describe measurements in Bohmian mechanics?
• What is the collapse in Bohmian mechanics?
• Is Bohmian mechanics not a step BACK to a classical theory?
• Is Bohmian mechanics not a hidden variable theory disproved by the no-go theorems?
• Can one observe the positions of the Bohmian particles?
• Can one observe the trajectories of the Bohmian particles?
• What are the surrealistic trajectories in Bohmian Mechanics?
• Does a measurement reveal any preexisting property of a system?
• Doesn't the electron in the Hydrogen atom fall into the nucleus?
• Do we see the Bohmian trajectory of a single particle in a cloud chamber?
• Is Bohmian mechanics not much more complicated than the easy formalism of quantum mechanics?
• How does Bohmian mechanics account for spin and what's its role?
• In Bohmian Mechanics one talks about the wave function of the universe. Why so?
• Bohmian mechanics is deterministic, how does randomness come about then?
• Is there any way to experimentally test Bohmian mechanics?
• Isn't the choice between Bohmian mechanics and standard quantum mechanics a philosophical problem?
• What exactly are the "empty" branches of the wave function in Bohmian mechanics?
• Is there a relativistic version of Bohmian mechanics?
• How does Bohmian mechanics treat indistinguishable particles?
• Is Bohmian mechanics a fully developed theory? What needs to be done in the future?