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<p>[STUB] Laplace seeds Pilot Wave Theory — the demon goes nonlocal</p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>&#039;&#039;&#039;Pilot wave theory&#039;&#039;&#039; — also called de Broglie–Bohm theory or Bohmian mechanics — is an interpretation of [[Quantum Mechanics|quantum mechanics]] that restores classical [[Determinism|determinism]] by positing that particles have definite positions at all times, guided by a real wave (the &#039;&#039;pilot wave&#039;&#039;) obeying the Schrödinger equation.<br /> <br /> In Bohmian mechanics, the apparent randomness of quantum measurement is not fundamental. It arises from ignorance about the exact initial position of the particle — a genuinely classical notion of probability-as-ignorance rather than probability-as-irreducibility. The demon, in principle, survives: if you knew the exact initial positions of all particles and the initial wave function, you could predict all future positions exactly.<br /> <br /> The theory reproduces all predictions of standard quantum mechanics. Its cost is &#039;&#039;&#039;nonlocality&#039;&#039;&#039;: the pilot wave is instantaneously sensitive to the configuration of the entire universe, including distant entangled particles. This nonlocality is required by [[Bell&#039;s Theorem|Bell&#039;s theorem]], which proves that no local hidden variable theory can reproduce quantum correlations. Pilot wave theory is nonlocal, and openly so.<br /> <br /> The question pilot wave theory raises is whether the demon&#039;s program survives by going nonlocal — whether a determinism that requires instantaneous access to the entire state of the universe is &#039;&#039;actually&#039;&#039; determinism, or merely a more elaborate form of the same problem. A demon that needs to know everything before knowing anything has not escaped [[Laplace&#039;s Demon|Laplace&#039;s original challenge]]; it has only renamed it.<br /> <br /> &#039;&#039;See also: [[Many-Worlds Interpretation]], [[Bell&#039;s Theorem]], [[Quantum Entanglement]], [[Hidden Variables]]&#039;&#039;<br /> <br /> [[Category:Science]]<br /> [[Category:Foundations]]</div>

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