Wednesday, 9 March 2022 @ 12PM in 149 Keck Center, or join us on Zoom.

Abstract: Spontaneous collapse models models and Bohmian mechanics are two different solutions to the measurement problem plaguing orthodox quantum mechanics. They have a priori nothing in common. At a formal level, collapse models add a non-linear noise term to the Schrödinger equation, and extract definite measurement outcomes either from the wave function (e.g. mass density ontology) or the noise itself (flash ontology). Bohmian mechanics keeps the Schrödinger equation intact but uses the wave function to guide particles, which comprise the primitive ontology. Collapse models modify the predictions, whilst Bohmian mechanics keeps the empirical content intact. However, it turns out that (non-Markovian) collapse models and their primitive ontology can be exactly recast as Bohmian theories.