Worlds in a Stochastic Universe: On the Emergence of World Histories in Tychistic Bohmian Mechanics

Alexander Ehmann (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

V, 152 Seiten

2026
Springer International Publishing (Verlag)
978-3-032-14631-1 (ISBN)

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This book develops a detailed account of the emergence of world histories from the discontinuous, stochastic micro dynamics of Tychistic Bohmian Mechanics (TBM). TBM is a non-relativistic quantum theory. It results from excising the guiding equation from standard Bohmian Mechanics (BM) and reinterpreting the quantum equilibrium hypothesis as a stochastic guidance law for the random actualization of configurations of Bohmian particles. The author introduces worlds, and world histories, as key concepts in providing a link between TBM s micro dynamics and macroscopic phenomena. Worlds, other than Barbourian time capsules, are coarse-grained regions in phase- or configuration space, defined as sets of possible micro states satisfying a relation of sufficient similarity from a macroscopic perspective, with respect to a given micro state. Hence, worlds may overlap. By providing a detailed explanation of how overlapping worlds in TBM form world histories, an account of how macroscopically distinct worlds are linked to each other is provided. Thus, the problem of temporal solipsism is resolved in a way that is compatible with a more than minimal psychophysical parallelism. This book is of interest to researchers and students in the philosophy of science, in particular the philosophy of physics, but also to metaphysicians. It is especially valuable to scholars working on the issue of interpreting Quantum Mechanics and exploring the field of possible interpretations and alternative theories.

I have been trained as a philosopher of science, with a focus on philosophy of physics. My PhD thesis Worlds in a Stochastic Universe: On the Emergence of World Histories in Minimal Bohmian Mechanics provides a detailed account of how the (quasi-)classical world histories we inhabit emerge from a fundamentally stochastic, discontinuous dynamics of Bohmian particles. The respective theory, now dubbed Tychistic Bohmian Mechanics , is presented and discussed in my thesis as well as in a recently published paper, The physics and metaphysics of Tychistic Bohmian Mechanics (Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 90, 2021), co-authored with Patrick Duerr (Oxford). We show that a Bohmian theory without the postulate of continuous particle trajectories and their deterministic dynamics, i.e., a Bohmian theory without a guidance equation, is empirically adequate and metaphysically coherent. Other than Tychistic Bohmian Mechanics, I currently work on the relation between thermody.

1 Introduction and overview.- 2 A short introduction to Tychistic Bohmian Mechanics.- 3 Smoothing out Boltzmannian statistical mechanics: On the viability of an alternative partitioning of phase space into overlapping worlds.- 4 Worlds in a stochastic universe.- 5 Conclusion and Outlook.

Erscheint lt. Verlag	13.5.2026
Reihe/Serie	Synthese Library
Zusatzinfo	V, 152 p. 27 illus., 16 illus. in color.
Verlagsort	Cham
Sprache	englisch
Maße	155 x 235 mm
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Allgemeines / Lexika
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Metaphysik / Ontologie
	Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Quantenphysik
Schlagworte	bohmian mechanics • Boltzmannian Statisticial Mechanics • Configuration space • Empirical Underdetermination • Everett Interpretation • Guidance Equation • John Bell • Julian Barbour • Many worlds • Phase space • primitive ontology • Psychophysical parallelism • Temporal Solipsism • time capsules • Tychistic Bohmian Mechanics • Worlds and Emergence of World Histories
ISBN-10	3-032-14631-3 / 3032146313
ISBN-13	978-3-032-14631-1 / 9783032146311
Zustand	Neuware