On the weak measurement of velocity in Bohmian mechanics

Abstract

In a recent article [1], Wiseman has proposed the use of so-called weak measurements for the determination of the velocity of a quantum particle at a given position, and has shown that according to quantum mechanics the result of such a procedure is the Bohmian velocity of the particle. Although Bohmian mechanics is empirically equivalent to variants based on velocity formulas different from the Bohmian one, and although it has been proven that the velocity in Bohmian mechanics is not measurable, we argue here for the somewhat paradoxical conclusion that Wiseman’s weak measurement procedure indeed constitutes a genuine measurement of velocity in Bohmian mechanics. We reconcile the apparent contradictions and elaborate on some of the different senses of measurement at play here.

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Citations of this work

Bohmian mechanics.Sheldon Goldstein - 2008 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Epistemology of Wave Function Collapse in Quantum Physics.Charles Wesley Cowan & Roderich Tumulka - 2016 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 67 (2):405-434.

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