What Is Real?: The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics

by Adam Becker

depicted a world of subatomic particles that existed whether or not anyone was looking at them, particles with definite positions at all times.

particles, in turn, each had “pilot waves” that determined their motion, which also behaved in an orderly and predictable fashion.

Bohm’s theory was mathematically equivalent to “normal” quantum physics.

Dresden’s horror, the room erupted in vitriol.

“juvenile deviationism,”

former colleagues dismissed his new theory out of hand.

his death, David Bohm remains an intensely polarizing figure.

also hailed as a visionary,

persecuted and was forced to flee across the globe at some of the most crucial points in his life,

interesting personal papers were lost or destroyed.

make things even worse, there’s pushback from Bohm’s defenders that takes things too far, overcompensating for the revisionist history of the orthodox camp.

interest in Bohm’s work increased markedly shortly after he died and shows no signs of stopping,

Bohm plays in the culture of quantum physics.

reactions that Bohm’s ideas provoked.

remarkably simple theory about how the quantum world works—and the remarkably complex life of a single ...

her frightening behavior forced him to seek refuge in books.

Penn State, Bohm’s brilliance was obvious to his friends and professors alike, as were his personal quirks.

suffered from terrible stomachaches

a spot in the physics PhD program at Caltech

Caltech, he became dissatisfied with the course work and research options available.

too competitive for his liking.

Bohm had moved up the California coast to work with his new mentor, J. Robert Oppenheimer.

interested in a wide range of intellectual pursuits beyond physics.

Oppenheimer had managed to go to Harvard for his undergraduate degree. After graduating summa cum laude in three years, he went off to Europe and earned his PhD under Max Born.

working with Pauli in Switzerland,

came back to the United States, he set to work turning Berkeley into the first great department of theoretical physics in the country.

intense discussions of Bohr on complementarity,”

Bohm joined the Berkeley campus chapter of the Communist Party in November 1942. But he found the reality of the party less appealing than the idea.

Bohm left the party after several months, but he remained a Marxist in his political convictions for many years afterward.

Bohm had been denied security clearance by the Army.

in reality, Bohm had been denied clearance because of his association with Weinberg,

His notes and calculations were seized by the Army,

forbidden from writing his own thesis.

Oppenheimer swooped in to ...

recondite

Princeton’s physics department hired Bohm as an assistant professor.

Bohm quickly settled in. He

Bohm also met one of Kahler’s closest friends: Albert Einstein.

David Bohm appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).

asking Bohm to implicate several of his former colleagues and friends

Bohm refused.

on December 4, 1950, a US marshal walked into Bohm’s office and arrested him.

indicted for contempt of Congress, for refusing to testify to HUAC.

suspended Bohm from research and teaching duties, and forbidden him to set foot on campus. Bohm was blacklisted.

February 1951,

publication of his new textbook, Quantum Theory.

emphasis on concepts rather tha...

measurement p...

Wolfgang Pauli, who said he’d enjoyed Bohm’s approach to the subject.

Einstein had read Bohm’s book and wanted to talk with him about it. “I