Uniting the wave and the particle in quantum mechanics

We present a unified field theory of wave and particle in quantum mechanics. This emerges from an investigation of three weaknesses in the de Broglie–Bohm theory: its reliance on the quantum probability formula to justify the particle-guidance equation; its insouciance regarding the absence of reciprocal action of the particle on the guiding wavefunction; and its lack of a unified model to represent its inseparable components. Following the author’s previous work, these problems are examined within an analytical framework by requiring that the wave–particle composite exhibits no observable differences with a quantum system. This scheme is implemented by appealing to symmetries (global gauge and spacetime translations) and imposing equality of the corresponding conserved Noether densities (matter, energy, and momentum) with their Schrödinger counterparts. In conjunction with the condition of time-reversal covariance, this implies the de Broglie–Bohm law for the particle where the quantum potential mediates the wave–particle interaction (we also show how the time-reversal assumption may be replaced by a statistical condition). The method clarifies the nature of the composite’s mass, and its energy and momentum conservation laws. Our principal result is the unification of the Schrödinger equation and the de Broglie–Bohm law in a single inhomogeneous equation whose solution amalgamates the wavefunction and a singular soliton model of the particle in a unified spacetime field. The wavefunction suffers no reaction from the particle since it is the homogeneous part of the unified field to whose source the particle contributes via the quantum potential. The theory is extended to many-body systems. We review de Broglie’s objections to the pilot-wave theory and suggest that our field-theoretic description provides a realization of his hitherto unfulfilled ‘double solution’ programme. A revised set of postulates for the de Broglie–Bohm theory is proposed in which the unified field is taken as the basic descriptive element of a physical system.