A Persistent Particle Ontology for Quantum Field Theory in Terms of the Dirac Sea. (28th November 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Deckert, Dirk-André; Esfeld, Michael; Oldofredi, Andrea
• Is Part Of: British journal for the philosophy of science. Volume 70:Number 3(2019)
• Page Start: 747
• Page End: 770
• Publication Date: 2017-11-28
• Subjects: Science -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; 501
• DOI: 10.1093/bjps/axx018
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0007-0882

Abstract

Abstract: We show that the Bohmian approach in terms of persisting particles that move on continuous trajectories following a deterministic law can be literally applied to quantum field theory. By means of the Dirac sea model—exemplified in the electron sector of the standard model neglecting radiation—we explain how starting from persisting particles, one is led to standard QFT employing creation and annihilation operators when tracking the dynamics with respect to a reference state, the so-called vacuum. Since on the level of wave functions, both formalisms are mathematically equivalent, this proposal provides for an ontology of QFT that includes a dynamics of individual processes, solves the measurement problem, and explains the appearance of creation and annihilation events. 1 Bohmian Mechanics from Quantum Mechanics to Quantum Field Theory 2 The Dirac Sea Model 3 Equilibrium States and the Vacuum 4 Excitations of the Vacuum and the Fock Space Formalism 5 The Appearance of Particle Creations and Annihilations 6 The Merits of the Bohmian Approach