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MrMind comments on Open thread, Nov. 3 - Nov. 9, 2014 - Less Wrong Discussion

4 Post author: MrMind 03 November 2014 09:55AM

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Comment author: MrMind 05 November 2014 09:01:17AM 1 point [-]

Bohmian mechanics and the Many Worlds interpretation make identical predictions

Not exactly. Bohmian QM allows superluminal signalling in certain circumstances.

Comment author: pragmatist 05 November 2014 12:54:45PM *  2 points [-]

Not sure what you mean by this. It is true that Bohmian particles can influence one another superluminally. However, if the experimenter's epistemic state is represented by the wave function (as Bohmian mechanics presupposes), then this superluminal influence can't be leveraged to transmit information superluminally.

Comment author: MrMind 06 November 2014 09:10:59AM 1 point [-]

then this superluminal influence can't be leveraged to transmit information superluminally.

Yes, theoretically it could, but not in an average sense. Quantum mechanics standard is recovered when the wave functions is in equilibrium, but in out-of-equilibrium states you can have violation of relativity or of the Heisenberg uncertainty.

Comment author: pragmatist 06 November 2014 02:35:54PM 1 point [-]

Well, quantum non-equilibrium (based on your Wikipedia link) violates the condition I specified ("the experimenter's epistemic state is represented by the wave function"). I had assumed that was a pre-supposition of Bohmian mechanics, but apparently it is not (at least for some proponents of Bohmianism).

Interesting, thanks.

Comment author: ike 05 November 2014 08:21:05PM 1 point [-]

Well, have any differences been tested, and if not, why not?

Comment author: MrMind 06 November 2014 09:07:46AM 1 point [-]

Yes, they have been tested and no, so far no such effect has been found.

Comment author: ike 06 November 2014 02:25:05PM 0 points [-]

So why do people still believe it? Would you expect an effect to have been found at the scales tested?

Comment author: MrMind 06 November 2014 04:51:28PM 0 points [-]

I'm afraid you'll have to ask to someone who actually believes it...

Comment author: gjm 05 November 2014 11:09:04AM 1 point [-]

Really? Could you tell us more?

Comment author: MrMind 06 November 2014 09:11:38AM *  2 points [-]

I'll let wikipedia do the work: quantum non-equilibrium.