The problem with the de Broglie Bohm pilot wave interpretation of quantum theory Bohm’s interpretation of quantum theory seems to imply that his hypothesis uses the same equations as quantum theory, so that only this is different in his interpretation of what the equations mean. Struyve shares his views (in a 2004 PhD thesis) that Bohm may have had difficulties with his hypothesis in the first place, and why it may have been rejected by Bohm’s critics over the past two decades. The relevant words from Struyve’s thesis are as follows. Struyve offered no solution to what he saw as the difficulty surrounding Bohm’s original ideas. Quote: “In this thesis we study the de Broglie-Bohm pilot-wave interpretation of quantum theory. We consider the domain of non-relativistic quantum theory, relativistic quantum theory and quantum field theory, and in each domain we consider the possibility of formulating a pilot-wave interpretation. For non-relativistic quantum theory a pilot-wave interpretation in terms of particle beables can readily be formulated. But this interpretation can in general not straightforwardly be generalized to relativistic wave equations. The problems which prevent us from devising a pilot-wave interpretation for relativistic wave equations also plague the standard quantum mechanical interpretation, where these problems led to the conception of quantum field theory. Therefore most of our attention is focussed on the construction of a pilot-wave interpretation for quantum field theory. We thereby favour the field beable approach, developed amongst others by Bohm, Hiley, Holland, Kaloyerou and Valentini. Although the field beable approach can be successfully applied to bosonic quantum field theory, it seems not straightforward to do so for fermionic quantum field theory.” Another adjacent slide has been inserted that could mean there is a solution to this scientific dilemma after all. The de Broglie-Bohm pilot-wave interpretation of quantum theory W. Struyve Ph.D. thesis, Ghent University, October

Vindicating Bohm’s Implicit order (holographic model) hypothesis I believe this is the nature of the debate that has always been needed to address the perceived shortcomings of Bohm’s Implicit order physics hypothesis. Background: 1 For particles are moving much slower than the speed of light, quantum theory works well and Bohm's interpretation of it works well too, however, 2 For particles moving near the speed of light (ie experiencing "relativistic" effects), quantum field theory needs to be applied. In this case quantum theory doesn't work well and Bohm's interpretation of it doesn't work well either. 3 The author (another physics theorist, W. Struyve) was able to develop a Bohmian interpretation for bosonic quantum field theory but could not see a way to do the same for fermionic quantum field theory. I (MFP) get the impression that during his lifetime Bohm didn't apply his interpretation to quantum field theory. This may be because in Bohm's pilot wave interpretation, each quantum wave packet is considered to consist of a particle surrounded by pilot waves which guide the particle. However in quantum field theory, I think each quantum wave packet needs to be thought of as a packet of waves which is spread out in space until such time as the wave packet is detected. The detection process can then be interpreted as causing the wave packet to collapse into a small volume of space so it exhibits properties of being a particle This latter interpretation works for the slow speed quantum theory case too. So I feel there may have been an evolution of ideas as follows: (next page)

MFP.JF  25/09/13 Description: A quantum equation (wave function) was discovered that could be used to calculate the probability of detecting particles at different locations in space. So particles were thought of as being basically particles with the wave function nothing more than helpful maths. de Broglie-Bohm decided to interpret the wave function as representing pilot-waves that guide particles. So in this interpretation particles are considered to be particles to which physically real waves are attached. The wave function is interpreted as describing a physically real wave packet but which collapses into a small volume when it is detected that allows it to exhibit particle properties. So this interpretation retains the physically real waves of Bohm's interpretation but eliminates the particle traveling with the waves. Thus Bohm's interpretation could be seen as stepping stone to this interpretation from the earlier one. Interpretations of quantum theory: Early de Broglie-Bohm pilot-wave Recent wave packet and collapse theories