Duerr, Patrick and Ehmann, Alexander (2021) The physics and metaphysics of Tychistic Bohmian Mechanics. Stuidies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 90. pp. 168-183.
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Abstract
The paper takes up Bell's (1987) “Everett (?) theory” and develops it further. The resulting theory is about the system of all particles in the universe, each located in ordinary, 3-dimensional space. This many-particle system as a whole performs random jumps through 3N-dimensional configuration space – hence “Tychistic Bohmian Mechanics” (TBM). The distribution of its spontaneous localisations in configuration space is given by the Born Rule probability measure for the universal wavefunction. Contra Bell, the theory is argued to satisfy the minimal desiderata for a Bohmian theory within the Primitive Ontology framework (for which we offer a metaphysically more perspicuous formulation than is customary). TBM's formalism is that of ordinary Bohmian Mechanics (BM), without the postulate of continuous particle trajectories and their deterministic dynamics. This “rump formalism” receives, however, a different interpretation. We defend TBM as an empirically adequate and coherent quantum theory. Objections voiced by Bell and Maudlin are rebutted. The “for all practical purposes”-classical, Everettian worlds (i.e. quasi-classical histories) exist sequentially in TBM (rather than simultaneously, as in the Everett interpretation). In a temporally coarse-grained sense, they quasi-persist. By contrast, the individual particles themselves cease to persist.
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| Item Type: | Published Article or Volume | |||||||||
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| Keywords: | Bohmian mechanics; Underdetermination; Selective realism; Temporal solipsism; Many worlds; Bell's everett (?) theory; Primitive ontology | |||||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Probability/Statistics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics |
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| Depositing User: | Dr. Alexander Ehmann | |||||||||
| Date Deposited: | 15 Nov 2021 05:20 | |||||||||
| Last Modified: | 15 Nov 2021 05:20 | |||||||||
| Item ID: | 19902 | |||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Stuidies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A | |||||||||
| Publisher: | Elsevier | |||||||||
| Official URL: | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/... | |||||||||
| DOI or Unique Handle: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2021.09.014 | |||||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Probability/Statistics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics |
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| Date: | 2021 | |||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 168-183 | |||||||||
| Volume: | 90 | |||||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/19902 |
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