On Bohmian Mechanics, Particle Creation, and Relativistic Space-Time: Happy 100th Birthday, David Bohm!

Abstract

The biggest and most lasting among David Bohm’s (1917–1992) many achievements is to have proposed a picture of reality that explains the empirical rules of quantum mechanics. This picture, known as pilot wave theory or Bohmian mechanics among other names, is still the simplest and most convincing explanation available. According to this theory, electrons are point particles in the literal sense and move along trajectories governed by Bohm’s equation of motion. In this paper, I describe some more recent developments and extensions of Bohmian mechanics, concerning in particular relativistic space-time and particle creation and annihilation.

Keywords

• de Broglie–Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics
• pilot wave
• interior-boundary condition
• ultraviolet divergence
• quantum field theory