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The Point of Primitive Ontology

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Abstract

Bohmian mechanics grounds the predictions of quantum mechanics in precise dynamical laws for a primitive ontology of point particles. In an appraisal of the de-Broglie–Bohm theory, the paper discusses the crucial epistemological and conceptual role that a primitive ontology plays within a physical theory. It argues that quantum theories without primitive ontology fail to make contact with observable reality in a clear and consistent manner. Finally, it discusses Einstein’s epistemological model and why it supports the primitive ontology approach.

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Notes

  1. For modern presentations of the theory, see [1,2,3,4].

  2. Even the sound of a clicking detector corresponds to matter in motion (sound waves in air), and something in the configuration of the detector has to change to produce them.

  3. The term primitive ontology was first introduced by Dürr, Goldstein, and Zanghì in 1992 [13]. For detailed discussions, see, e.g., [14,15,16]; cf. Maudlin’s notion of primary ontology in [17].

  4. E.g., the GRW flash theory (see below) or certain formulations of quantum field theory.

  5. Apparently based on the questionable idea that they are better candidates for ontology than the observable-operators of non-relativistic quantum mechanics.

  6. For the definition of effective wave functions of subsystems, see [13]. For the classical limit of Bohmian mechanics, see [44], reprinted as Ch. 5 in [2], or the textbook of Dürr and Teufel [1].

  7. That the projections are not multiplied by constants \(m_i\) is secondary; the masses appear as parameters in the Schrödinger equation whence they affect the dynamics of the shadows.

  8. Which only underscores the need to understand its physical role in terms of a PO.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Christian Beck for valuable discussions. Nino Zanghì was the first to tell us about Einstein’s epistemological model. About the epistemological role of primitive ontology, we learned a lot from Tim Maudlin’s talk “How Theory Meets the World” that we had the pleasure of attending many years ago. Section 3 of this essay was adapted from the forthcoming book “Typicality Reasoning in Probability, Physics, and Metaphysics” by Dustin Lazarovici.

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  1. Department of Humanities and Arts, Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

    Dustin Lazarovici & Paula Reichert

  2. Mathematisches Institut, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany

    Paula Reichert

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  1. Dustin Lazarovici
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Correspondence to Dustin Lazarovici.

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Lazarovici, D., Reichert, P. The Point of Primitive Ontology. Found Phys 52, 120 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-022-00639-w

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