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Although David Bohm’s interpretation of quantum mechanics is sometimes thought to be a kind of regression towards classical thinking, it is in fact an extremely radical metaphysics of nature. The view goes far beyond the familiar but perennially peculiar non-locality and entanglement of quantum systems. In this paper, a philosophical exploration, I examine three core features of Bohm’s metaphysical views, which have been both supported by features of quantum mechanics and integrated into a comprehensive system. These are the holistic nature of the world, the role of a unique kind of information as the ontological basis of the world, and the integration of mentality into this basis as an essential and irreducible aspect of it. View Full-Text / Download Paper



By William Seager



This abstract belongs to an article of the Special Issue "Emergent Quantum Mechanics – David Bohm Centennial Perspectives"



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The concept of universal gravity-related irreversibility began in quantum cosmology. The ultimate reason for universal irreversibility is thought to come from black holes close to the Planck scale. Quantum state reductions, unrelated to gravity or relativity but related to measurement devices, are completely different instances of irreversibilities. However, an intricate relationship between Newton gravity and quantized matter might result in fundamental and spontaneous quantum state reduction—in the non-relativistic Schrödinger–Newton context. The above two concepts of fundamental irreversibility emerged and evolved with few or even no interactions. The purpose here is to draw a parallel between the two approaches first, and to ask rather than answer the question: can both the Planckian and the Schrödinger–Newton indeterminacies/irreversibilities be two faces of the same universe. A related personal note of the author’s 1986 meeting with Aharonov and Bohm is appended. View Full-Text / Download Paper



By Lajos Diósi



This abstract belongs to an article of the Special Issue "Emergent Quantum Mechanics – David Bohm Centennial Perspectives"



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Poincaré’s Recurrence Theorem implies that any isolated Hamiltonian system evolving in a bounded Universe returns infinitely many times arbitrarily close to its initial phase space configuration. We discuss this and related recurrence properties from the point of view of recent advances in symplectic topology which have not yet reached the Physics community. These properties are closely related to Emergent Quantum Mechanics since they belong to a twilight zone between classical (Hamiltonian) mechanics and its quantization. View Full-Text / Download Paper



By Maurice de Gosson



This abstract belongs to an article of the Special Issue "Emergent Quantum Mechanics – David Bohm Centennial Perspectives"



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Matter-wave near-field interference can imprint a nano-scale fringe pattern onto a molecular beam, which allows observing its shifts in the presence of even very small external forces. Here we demonstrate quantum interference of the pre-vitamin 7-dehydrocholesterol and discuss the conceptual challenges of magnetic deflectometry in a near-field interferometer as a tool to explore photochemical processes within molecules whose center of mass is quantum delocalized. View Full-Text / Download Paper



By Lukas Mairhofer, Sandra Eibenberger, Armin Shayeghi and Markus Arndt



This abstract belongs to an article of the Special Issue "Emergent Quantum Mechanics – David Bohm Centennial Perspectives"



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The history of photons in a nested Mach–Zehnder interferometer with an inserted Dove prism is analyzed. It is argued that the Dove prism does not change the past of the photon. Alonso and Jordan correctly point out that an experiment by Danan et al. demonstrating the past of the photon in a nested interferometer will show different results when the Dove prism is inserted. The reason, however, is not that the past is changed, but that the experimental demonstration becomes incorrect. The explanation of a signal from the place in which the photon was (almost) not present is given. Bohmian trajectory of the photon is specified. View Full Text / Download Paper



By Lev Vaidman and Izumi Tsutsui



This abstract belongs to an article of the Special Issue "Emergent Quantum Mechanics – David Bohm Centennial Perspectives"



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A method for measuring the weak value of spin for atoms is proposed using a variant of the original Stern–Gerlach apparatus. A full simulation of an experiment for observing the real part of the weak value using the impulsive approximation has been carried out. Our predictions show a displacement of the beam of helium atoms in the metastable 23S1 state, Δw, that is within the resolution of conventional microchannel plate detectors indicating that this type of experiment is feasible. The analysis of Robert Flack, Vincenzo Monachello, Basil Hiley and Peter Barker also determines the experimental parameters that will give an accurate determination of the weak value of spin. Preliminary experimental results are shown for helium, neon and argon in the 23S1 and 3P2 metastable states, respectively. View Full-Text / Download Paper

By Robert Flack, Vincenzo Monachello, Basil Hiley and Peter Barker



This abstract belongs to an article of the Special Issue "Emergent Quantum Mechanics – David Bohm Centennial Perspectives"



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