Dustin Lazarovici

The Ontology of Bohmian Mechanics

The article points out that the modern formulation of Bohm’s quantum theory, known as Bohmian mechanics, is committed only to particles’ positions and a law of motion. We explain how this view can avoid the open questions that the traditional view faces, according to which Bohm’s theory is committed to a wave-function that is a physical entity over and above the particles, although it is defined on configuration space instead of three-dimensional space. We then enquire into the status of the law of motion, elaborating on how the main philosophical options to ground a law of motion, namely Humeanism and dispositionalism, can be applied to Bohmian mechanics. In conclusion, we sketch out how these options apply to primitive ontology approaches to quantum mechanics in general. 1 Introduction 2 What is the Ontological Status of the Wave-Function? 3 Humeanism about Laws 4 Laws Grounded in Dispositions 5 Advantages of Dispositionalism 6 Conclusion 1 Introduction 2 What is the Ontological Status of the Wave-Function? 3 Humeanism about Laws 4 Laws Grounded in Dispositions 5 Advantages of Dispositionalism 6 Conclusion

The physics and metaphysics of primitive stuff

The article sets out a primitive ontology of the natural world in terms of primitive stuff—that is, stuff that has as such no physical properties at all—but that is not a bare substratum either, being individuated by metrical relations. We focus on quantum physics and employ identity-based Bohmian mechanics to illustrate this view, but point out that it applies all over physics. Properties then enter into the picture exclusively through the role that they play for the dynamics of the primitive stuff. We show that such properties can be local (classical mechanics), as well as holistic (quantum mechanics), and discuss two metaphysical options to conceive them, namely, Humeanism and modal realism in the guise of dispositionalism. 1 Introduction 2 Primitive Ontology: Primitive Stuff 3 The Physics of Matter as Primitive Stuff 4 The Humean Best System Analysis of the Dynamical Variables 5 Modal Realism about the Dynamical Variables 6 Conclusion 1 Introduction 2 Primitive Ontology: Primitive Stuff 3 The Physics of Matter as Primitive Stuff 4 The Humean Best System Analysis of the Dynamical Variables 5 Modal Realism about the Dynamical Variables 6 Conclusion

A Mean Field Limit for the Vlasov-Poisson System

We present a probabilistic proof of the mean field limit and propagation of chaos N-particle systems in three dimensions with positive (Coulomb) or negative (Newton) 1/r potentials scaling like 1/N and an N-dependent cut-off which scales like

A relativistic retrocausal model violating Bell's inequality

{N^{-1/3+ \epsilon}}

Observables and Unobservables in Quantum Mechanics: How the No-Hidden-Variables Theorems Support the Bohmian Particle Ontology

N-1/3+ϵ. In particular, for typical initial data, we show convergence of the empirical distributions to solutions of the Vlasov–Poisson system with either repulsive electrical or attractive gravitational interactions.

Relativistic Interactions and the Structure of Time

The paper treats the validity problem of the nonrelativistic Vlasov-Poisson equation in

Time Evolution in the external field problem of Quantum Electrodynamics

{d \geq 2}