Relativistic Bohmian trajectories of photons via weak measurements

Joshua Foo (), Estelle Asmodelle, Austin P. Lund and Timothy C. Ralph ()
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Joshua Foo: The University of Queensland
Estelle Asmodelle: The University of Queensland
Austin P. Lund: The University of Queensland
Timothy C. Ralph: The University of Queensland

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Bohmian mechanics is a nonlocal hidden-variable interpretation of quantum theory which predicts that particles follow deterministic trajectories in spacetime. Historically, the study of Bohmian trajectories has mainly been restricted to nonrelativistic regimes due to the widely held belief that the theory is incompatible with special relativity. Here, we present an approach for constructing the relativistic Bohmian-type velocity field of single particles. The advantage of our proposal is that it is operational in nature, grounded in weak measurements of the particle’s momentum and energy. We apply our weak measurement formalism to obtain the relativistic spacetime trajectories of photons in a Michelson–Sagnac interferometer. The trajectories satisfy quantum-mechanical continuity and the relativistic velocity addition rule. We propose a modified Alcubierre metric which could give rise to these trajectories within the paradigm of general relativity.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31608-6

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